The Lioness and the Serpent
by Bookworm1025
Summary: "I love you. You're the only person I'll ever love, and I'm not letting you go without a fight." "I'm not going anywhere, Sev." Snily, A/U. Sorry about the terrible summary. DISCLAIMER: I'm not Jo, obviously. Just a kid with an imagination...
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Yeah. So I'm bad at titles and summaries... ah well. The new stuff starts after this, because this chapter can be found in my other Snily fic, "Always". ANYWHO, enjoy?**_

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><p>I poked at my dinner absently, more interested in the wood grain on the table than the conversation going on around me.<p>

"Lily?" I jerked out of my stupor and looked up at my mum. It was no surprise that she looked genuinely concerned. "Are you sure you're feeling alright? You haven't eaten anything."

"Ah – not hungry," I lied. Well, not a total lie. I hadn't been hungry – I hadn't been anything – since I got back from my fifth year.

"_I_ know what's wrong," Petunia sneered. I looked at my sister and I could see cruel relish in her eyes. "I bet that boyfriend of yours broke up with you. That's why you've been so sad."

"_Boyfriend_?" Mum and I spoke at the same time – her tone was surprised and curious, and mine was defensive. "You mean Severus?"

"No!" I cried, sounding scandalized, trying to ignore the stinging in my eyes. "We were never going out!"

"But he _did_ break up with you, didn't he? As a friend." It was clear from Petunia's tone that she was thoroughly enjoying tormenting me. "That's what happened, is that you've stopped being friends. I bet he hates you."

I jumped to my feet, knocking my chair over. I couldn't even think of anything to say as a retort; I turned on my heel and left. I ran up the stairs and into my bedroom, and threw myself onto my bed just as I burst into tears.

Nobody in my family knew what had happened between Sev and I after our OWLs. I intended to keep it that way – they wouldn't understand, anyway. It hadn't been very easy, considering every time I thought about Sev – which was a lot – it was like a knife in my heart. And now I knew that the jig was up, that I had to actually talk about what had happened… there were footsteps on the stairs, and then a knock on my door.

"Lily?" a voice asked tentatively, and I knew it was mum. I didn't reply, just buried my face deeper in my pillow. My floor creaked and the bed sagged on my side, and for a long time I lay there and cried while mum rubbed my back.

I sat up and took a deep breath, and then I told her everything – Sev getting himself into the Death Eaters, James constantly taunting Sev and asking me out, Sev calling me a Mudblood. When I was finished, mum said nothing, just hugged me close for a long time, rocking me back and forth the way she did when I was younger.

Half an hour later, we were still sitting there. And suddenly: "Lily!" a voice called from outside – a horribly familiar voice, one I had been aching to hear but was too afraid of what it would bring. I tensed in mum's arms and waited. "Lily, please…"

I ran to the window despite mum's protests and threw up the sash, intending to give Severus Snape the verbal lashing of a lifetime, but in the light pouring from my window I watched as he croaked my name one last time and slumped onto the lawn.

I made a choked noise. "Lily, what's wrong?" mum asked, but by then I was already halfway across my room. I could hear her footsteps behind me as I tore down the stairs and out into the warm July evening.

I dropped to my knees beside where Severus was sprawled in the grass, pulling him onto my lap and cradling his head in my hands. "Oh god, Sev, please be okay," I said, tears pouring down my cheeks. His face was bruised and bloodied, his arm lay at an unnatural angle and his breathing was shallow and labored. I could feel my heart wrench in my chest. "Sev, please…" A minute ago I had felt nothing but hatred and sorrow when I thought of the boy I held, but now I realized that all I cared about was him being okay. Nothing else mattered.

His eyelids flickered and I saw his lips move to form words. "Lily… I'm sorry…"

I barely held back a sob. "I know you are, Sev, just hold on…" I turned to mum, who stood just behind me. "Help him, please," I begged.

"We'll have to carry him inside," mum said, the worry in her eyes betraying her in-control tone. "But we'll have to be quick about it… I'm afraid if we move him too much it'll only hurt him worse."

As quickly and carefully as we could, we supported Sev between us and carried him up to my bedroom. I could tell he was in pain, but he tried not to show it. Still, I could hear him biting back his protests, his face screwed up in concentration. He barely relaxed when we set him on my bed, though his face was covered in a sheen of sweat.

"Oh god, Sev, what happened to you?" I cried, grabbing his hand.

"Tobias… and mum… fighting, and I… then he… beat…" Sev shuddered and fell silent. I turned to mum again, desperate.

"Mum…"

"His arm is definitely broken, and I'd guess that his ribs are bruised at the very least…"

"I can fix his arm!" I said excitedly, already reaching for my wand on my bedside table. "I've seen Madame Pomfrey do it loads of times, she's showed me how…"

"I thought you couldn't use magic outside of school if you're under seventeen," mum pointed out, clearly puzzled. I paused for a moment, looking down at Sev. His eyelids were flickering like he was having a terrible nightmare, and over and over I could hear him whispering my name. He had to have been in a terrible amount of pain.

"That's the least of my worries right now, mum," I said quietly.

"I'll go and get a wash cloth for his face," she announced, standing up. "At least that way you didn't do the magic in front of a Muggle." I watched her go, doubting it would make any difference, but I grabbed my wand anyway and sat on the bed beside Sev, still gripping his clammy hand.

"I'm sorry if this hurts, Sev," I whispered, and cast the spell. For a moment Sev's face twisted in agony as the bones in his arm knitted, and then he relaxed a considerable amount, almost sighing in relief. I wiped the tears off my cheeks with the back of my hand.

"Thank you," Sev breathed after a moment; apparently without the pain he was able to come back to his senses. I brushed his black hair off of his face, smiling weakly. Mum returned with a damp dishtowel, and after a moment she passed it to me.

"I'm going to go get dinner cleaned up," she said, and I realized that this was her way of giving Sev and I a moment to talk. I gave her a grateful look and watched that she closed the door behind her before I turned back to Sev, gently wiping the sticky blood from his face. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time, but I just avoided meeting his gaze. I couldn't figure out why.

"I'm sorry. So sorry," he said quietly. I sighed, putting the cloth down and looking away, out my window.

"I know you are, Sev."

"Please, Lily, forgive me…"

I took a deep breath, barely holding back a fresh onslaught of tears. "Sev, I -"

"Look at me." The desperation and sadness in his voice finally made my eyes find his. And there he was – not the fifteen year old boy with a blooming black eye and such a heavy heart, but the nine year old I had met all those years ago at the playground… the nine year old boy that I had somehow almost come to love, until he called me a…

"I've hated myself more and more every second since I called you what I did. I wasn't myself, I swear, Potter… he humiliated me in front of you, and then you –"

"I what?"

"You smiled. He taunted me and you smiled, and that hurt worse than anything else Potter could have done to me," Sev said in a tiny voice. "And I was mad at you and wanted you to hurt as much as I did. And I'm a horrible person for it."

"No you aren't…. and I'm genuinely sorry for smiling, Sev," I said softly, but then I remembered what I meant to say in the first place and a tiny bit of anger leaked back into my brain. "But you call everyone like me a mudblood. I want to forgive you more than anything, but how can I when you're just going to go on being a Death Eater wannabe, standing for everything that goes against me?"

"I swear to you, I wouldn't dream of it," he said seriously, and he took both my hands in his as he sat up. "I'm never talking to that lot again. I'll cut my hair and be civil to the Marauders and I'll even come to Quidditch games if that's what you want. I'll do anything, Lily… I can't lose you."

The only question that came to mind was, "Why?"

Sev took a deep breath. "Because I love you. Because you're the only person I'll ever love, and I'm not letting you go without a fight."

There was a long, heavy silence. "I'm not going anywhere, Sev," I finally said, my voice quite a bit lower than usual. Sure, Sev fancied me – everyone knew that – but I had never guessed he loved me. Frankly I had never thought myself particularly loveable, even if everyone told me otherwise. "But you have to stop with this Death Eater nonsense."

"Done," Sev said instantly.

"Oh… and don't you dare cut your hair," I said, giving him a shy smile and reaching out to comb my fingers through his black tresses. Sev beamed. The sight of my best friend's smile – hell, even just calling him my best friend again – made a rush of happiness spread through me, and without thinking about it I leaned forward and kissed him.

Sev was the one to pull away after a few seconds. I didn't blame him – I was just as shocked at what I had done. "Lily?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm sorry, I was being stupid, never mind…" I stammered, turning pink, but Sev sat up farther and kissed me back. I felt a wonderful surge of affection for him. For the first time I noticed how intoxicating his scent was, how wonderful his long fingers felt in my hair… _and besides, Lily, what could be better than falling for your best friend? You're already closer than close, this is just… an upgrade._

Our lips stayed locked together for a good deal longer than last time, and when we finally broke apart I tried to hide how breathless I was. We stared at each other for a moment before the corners of Sev's mouth twitched, and a bubble of sound rose in my chest. A second later we were both giggling like little kids; I was collapsed across Sev's legs and he was leaning against the headboard.

"Well it's certainly nice to find you in better condition than before," mum said as she walked through the door, carrying a tray of food. I sat up, sobering, and mum placed the tray across Sev's lap. "You could both use a decent meal, eat up," she ordered. "Oh, and while you're eating, Severus… would you object to telling us what happened to you tonight?"

Sev swallowed and I could see his eyes fill with fear. I took his hand and squeezed it. He sighed. "My mum and Tobias fight. All the time," Sev said quietly. "Tobias is a drunk, and he's a violent drunk at that. Mum's terrified of him, I know it, I don't know why she keeps him around… but sometimes I get caught up in the fight when I'm trying to protect mum, and Tobias…" Sev shuddered violently and I squeezed his hand again, horrified of what I was hearing. When he spoke again Sev was barely whispering.

"Well, tonight they were fighting and I got in the way, and Tobias… he pushed me into the counter, that's why my ribs hurt… and he punched me in the eye and when I pulled out my wand to try to stop him he broke my arm. I thought I was going to throw up, it hurt so bad… I would have if I had eaten more than some dry bread and old cheese since I got home." Sev chuckled darkly, and now I was crying silently again. "And mum made him leave like she always does, and he went along happily enough… probably tired himself out, went back to some pub… and I couldn't take it anymore. I had to fix things with you, no matter what it took, because so long as I was with you I could pretend that I didn't hurt. So I came stumbling over, this cut over my eyebrow half-blinding me with blood, and…" he trailed off, his eyes searching my face.

"You can't go back there," I said, my voice cracking. "Please don't, Sev."

"But he can't stay here. I'm not his mother, it wouldn't be legal…" mum argued. "I want Severus to stay, believe me I do, but…"

"Mum threw me out," Sev said suddenly, and now his eyes were swimming with tears. "She said it was my fault Tobias and her fought in the first place, and that's the main reason I came here. She said I could come back for my things but…" Sev trailed off.

"You can't be serious," I said, stunned. Sev didn't say anything, but I knew he was telling the truth when he sniffled once. "Oh, Severus!" I wailed, throwing my arms around him and hugging him as tightly as I dared without hurting his ribs.

"If that truly is the case, Severus, we'd be more than willing to let you stay here," mum said carefully. "But only if you wish it."

"I don't want to impose," Sev said quickly. I hiccupped and stared at him.

"This isn't the time to be modest, Sev, your own mum threw you out…"

"I know," Sev said, and I could see the hurt in his eyes and shut my mouth. "Thank you, Mrs. Evans," he said sincerely, turning back to mum.

Mum smiled sadly. "Eat, and then get some rest, we can talk about this later," she said, and left the room.

Sev and I ate in relative silence. When the plates were empty I carried the tray over to my desk and crawled up onto the bed to sit beside Sev. "Looks like we got lucky… no ministry owls," I pointed out.

"Don't go jinxing it," Sev said, smirking, but we fell into silence once again.

"Sev."

"Lily."

"What are we?" I asked worriedly. "Best friends?"

"Of course we are, we promised to be best friends forever years ago," Sev reminded me, and then something dawned in the back of his eyes. "Oh."

"Oh," I repeated. Sev let out his breath in a patient sigh.

"I love you, Lily," he said again, and I felt my stomach clench, "but I can tell you don't love me."

"Yet," I countered, and when Sev seemed thrown I continued, "You know, I had intended to tell you after our OWLs… you felt like more than a friend to me, Sev, and I meant to ask if you felt the same way. But I never got the chance, and so I'm telling you now – I think that I fancy you at the very least, but I could love you easily."

"I'll wait," Sev said seriously. "I'll wait as long as it will take, Lily, if it's a week or a decade." I smiled.

"You're an amazing person, you know that?"

Sev grinned and moved towards me, but paused. "May I?" he asked. I laughed.

"Please do," I said with a smirk, and kissed him again.

* * *

><p>"Jesus Christ, Lily!"<p>

My eyes flew open and my brain raced to make sense of what I was seeing. Alice Prewett was standing in my doorway, looking shocked. Beside her stood Mary Macdonald, and behind both of them were the Marauders. James swore loudly. It didn't take long to realize what had them so upset – after staying up most of the night talking and laughing and occasionally snogging, Sev and I had fallen asleep together, in each other's arms, under the covers of my bed.

I recoiled from him instantly. Sev woke up with a start, blearily mumbling something about Gryffindors in his common room.

"What the hell are you all doing in my bedroom?" I demanded, angrier at the situation then at them.

"What the hell are you doing in bed with Snivellus?" Sirius retorted.

"You invited all of us over today, remember?" Alice said gently, though she still looked alarmed. "We were going to go to Diagon Alley to get your mind off things… though it looks as though you've solved that problem on your own."

I sighed, pulling the covers off and swinging my legs over the side of my bed. "First of all, look. Fully dressed." I gave them a reproving look. "Second of all, I invited Alice and Mary and Remus, I don't know how the rest of you fit in. Third and most important, when did the meeting place become my bedroom?"

"When we came to the door and your sister said to go right up," Mary said, and I scowled. _Typical Petunia_. "I invited James along as well, and if you invite one Marauder you invite them all, I guess."

"Why did you invite James?" I asked, and I stared at her, trying to tell her with my eyes that he was the last person I wanted to spend the day with.

"Well I figure it would help!" she said, and I fought the urge to growl. "After all, you do fancy him, don't you?"

"_What?"_ three voices chorused. James suddenly looked hopeful and cocky, Sev had finally come to his senses and looked outraged, and I expected my expression mirrored his.

"Do you really?" James asked excitedly.

"What the hell is going on?" Sev demanded.

"Stop!" I said loudly, and the room fell silent. "Look, you guys, could you just… wait in the living room or something? Make mum get you all a snack or something. I just need twenty minutes and we can go," I said tiredly. Alice nodded and shooed the others out of the room. It wasn't until she was the last one there that she gave me a tiny smile, darting out of the room and closing the door before the pillow I threw could hit her.

Sev and I sat there for a moment. "What's going on?" Sev asked again.

"I… Alice and Mary knew how cut up I was after… after our OWLs… and they said that they were going to take me to Diagon Alley for a girl's day. We invited Remus, mostly because he felt terrible for what James and Sirius did and he wanted to make it up to me. And you heard what Mary said about James…"

"And is what Mary said about James true?" Sev said, and I shifted so that I could see him. He looked guarded and wary. I sighed, there was no use in lying.

"He's funny and he's handsome and he's charming, in his weird sort of way," I admitted, and watched Sev tense up. "But he's also an ass, and he's cocky and a jerk and a bully. You're my best friend. _You're _handsome, and funny and charming, and smart and obviously you're a fighter… and you're a damn good kisser, might I add," I said with a sly smile. "Potter doesn't measure up to you, Sev."

"But you do fancy him," Sev said flatly.

I got to my feet to get dressed. "But I fancy you more. It's like looking at the Cannons and Ireland – you've got a soft spot for the Cannons, but you know they're hopeless and that you'll never in a million years love them more than Ireland."

Sev frowned. "You know I don't get Quidditch."

I grinned. "And _I'm_ the muggle born… Pumpkin Pasties and Bertie Botts then," I offered, and Sev smirked, getting up with a tiny groan and massaging his ribs.

"Am I allowed to tag along to Diagon Alley then?" Sev asked, and I paused in the middle of rifling through my closet. I gave him a funny look.

"So you're asking if you're allowed to come to Diagon Alley… and be _social_… in the same group as the boys who make your life hell?" I asked slowly, not daring to believe it.

"I'm asking if I'm allowed to come to Diagon Alley and be social with the girl I love, knowing that I'd sooner take Potter and Black with you rather than your sister alone."

I beamed at him before disappearing into the bathroom to change. When I returned Sev was still standing by my bed, wearing the slightly-too-big jeans and collared shirt he had shown up in. They were wrinkled from sleeping and his shirt had a good amount of dried blood on it. I frowned at him.

"I could either risk using more magic, or you could wear some of my dad's things," I said.

"Or you could go ahead. I'll go by Spinners End and grab everything I need and meet you at the Leaky Cauldron," Sev suggested.

"I don't want you to go back there alone," I muttered. "What if your dad's there?" Sev's eyebrows knitted together – clearly he hadn't thought about that. "Come on, at least a shirt." Sev nodded and I ran into my parents' room, grabbing a button-up shirt and bringing it back to Sev.

As I put on a pair of earrings I couldn't help watching Sev get dressed in the mirror. I tried to hide the tiny gasp I gave when I saw his abs. He caught my eye and chuckled. "You know, being hung upside down at least once a week and running from toe rags every day has its advantages."

I gave him an incredulous look and walked back over just as he did up the buttons of the shirt. "It looks good on you," I commented absently, putting my arms around his neck.

"Do you figure it's safe to say you're my girlfriend?" Sev asked softly, and my breath caught in my throat.

"They already think we've shagged, Sev, I sincerely doubt we'll be able to convince them we're anything less than dating," I said, unable to keep the mischievous glint out of my eyes. "I wouldn't want to try, anyway."

Sev pressed his lips against mine but only for a moment. "Neither would I," he agreed, taking my hand. "Come on then, let the day of hell begin."

"At least be civil," I told him, leading him out the door and down the stairs.

"I will if they will," Sev replied.

"Good enough."

The others were all sitting in the living room, looking distinctly awkward. Sev sat on the couch beside Remus and I perched on the armrest, trying to act like the bedroom incident had never happened. "So how are we all getting to Diagon Alley, might I ask? Our fireplace isn't connected to the Floo, and none of us can Apparate."

"Oh, my mum is outside, she was going to drive us to my house twenty minutes away and we were going to Floo from there," Alice said, standing up. The others all moved towards the door, and I quickly wrote a note to mum telling her where I was before leaving.

To my surprise, Sev and Remus were talking intently as they made their way to a station wagon in our driveway, leaving me with Alice. "So what happened, anyway?" she asked, and I sighed.

"Nothing," I said firmly. "Well, almost nothing. I can't tell you everything, Sev would only be mad if I did. My point is, Sev's been forgiven, but not in the way you think he's been."

"But you were -"

"I know," I said quickly, lowering my voice as we grew closer to the car. "But we didn't."

"Did you snog though?" she pressed, and I could see an amused sparkle in her brown eyes. I gave her a tiny nod, biting back a shy smile, and she suppressed a squeal as we climbed into the magically-expanded car. It was something like a limo inside – two long bench seats faced each other. Three of the Marauders plus Mary were talking on one of them, and Alice and I sat next to Remus and Sev. Without breaking his conversation with the sandy-haired boy, Sev slid his hand into mine again. I squeezed it.

Something had changed inside Sev, that much I knew. Everyone knew it. Why else would he be talking to Remus and Alice and Mary, or not sneering and scowling at the Marauders, or even just smiling and laughing?

"Are you sure you're Severus Snape?" Mary demanded at Florean Fortiscue's ice cream parlour. The others watched Sev intently; clearly they had been wondering the same thing.

"Positive," he replied, taking another mouthful of the ice cream the two of us were sharing.

"But you're so… happy."

Sev smirked. "Indeed I am, Macdonald." I beamed at him and I knew that the others all looked bewildered.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I heard Sirius whisper.

The rest of the day passed in a whirlwind as we looked in almost every shop on the alley. Before I knew it I was falling onto the couch in the living room beside Sev and the others. Mum was making dinner for all eight of us, and both girls were spending the night – Sev had promised to stay out of the way and confine himself to the guest room. I had never known it was possible to be as shocked and surprised by a person as I was at the sullen Slytherin.

Everyone left around seven, Mary and Alice going to get a bag for overnight. As soon as the door closed behind the last person, I whirled on Sev, gaping.

"What did I do?" he asked.

"Everything!" I cried, throwing my arms around him. "What happened to the moody, anti-social Sev?"

"He died the second you kissed me," Sev said into my hair. I hugged him for a moment longer before leaning back.

"I'm sorry to put a damper on your good mood, Sev, but what are you going to do about your stuff?" I asked. A crease appeared between his eyebrows.

"I have to go get it some time," he said eventually. "I'll go over there tonight."

"Not alone, you aren't." Sev and I both turned to see mum standing in the doorway. "I'll drive you over and help."

"Mrs. Evans, I appreciate it but I don't want you near my parents," Sev said uncomfortably. "I don't know what kind of state they'll be in when I go…"

"All the more reason for you not to go alone," mum said crisply. "Severus, it'll be fine," she added, softer. Sev stared at her for a moment before swallowing and nodding.

"Whenever you're ready then, Mrs. Evans."

"Don't call me that, it sounds too proper. Call me Violet," mum said, already moving to get her car keys.

"Okay then… Violet."

I gave a tight hug and a quick kiss. "Good luck."

Sev nodded, his mouth a thin line, and followed my mum out the door just as Alice and Mary came striding in. "Where's Snape going?" Mary asked curiously once the door had closed. I frowned at the use of his last name, watching the car pull out of the drive.

"Spinner's End. He's just got to get his trunk and things."

"Why?" Alice inquired.

"He'd only be mad if I told you," I replied. Both girls looked a little confused. I bit back a sigh and put on a happy face. "Doesn't matter. Come on; let's go up to my room."

* * *

><p>I heard the front door open and close half an hour later, and seconds later footsteps were stomping past my bedroom door. The guest room door slammed, and I could hear my mother swear once in the foyer. My heart sank as I looked at the other girls.<p>

"What's wrong with Severus, Lil?" Alice asked quietly. I opened my mouth and closed it, wanting nothing more than to run into the guest room.

"He's going to hate me for telling you," I whispered. "And you can't tell anyone, because if you do I'm going to hex you into the next century. But Sev's mum might have kicked him out of the house."

"You're kidding!" Mary cried, and both Alice and I shushed her.

"No, I'm not. He's staying here, I suppose, and you're to pretend that you don't know a thing. Or else," I said fiercely. They nodded mutely.

After a moment, Alice spoke. "Go on, Lily, I can tell you're aching to go see him."

"No, Sev…" I trailed off, unable to think of a single argument. "I'll be back, I swear to Merlin."

"We're fine, go!" Mary insisted, and gratefully I scrabbled to my feet and left.

I could hear mum in the kitchen. When she was mad, she baked, and judging by the racket she was making she was furious. My spirits dampening every second, I knocked timidly on the guest room door at the end of the hall. "Sev?" I called. There was no reply. "Come on, Sev, open up."

The door flew open, a hand grabbed my arm and the door closed behind me. I blinked, trying to make my eyes adjust to the sudden gloom. Sev was standing there, not even bothering to hide how anguished he looked. "Oh god, Sev, what happened?" I asked sadly, reaching for one of his hands. He jerked away and strode over to sit on the bed.

"Tobias was cheating on her. He was cheating on her with some slag, and they're getting a divorce." Sev's voice was edgy; he was obviously trying very hard not to cry. I sat next to him on the bed, putting my arms around him. "And mum… god, Lily, her face…" He drew a deep, shuddering breath. "She was worse off than I was." A single tear rolled down his cheek, and I kissed it away. "That's not even the worst part though," Sev said, laughing darkly. "She said she wanted to disown me. Said I was the worst thing that ever happened to her. Of course, your mum flew into a rage, it was really quite terrifying."

"Sev," I whispered, because I wasn't sure what else to say.

After a few minutes, Sev sighed. "You know what, never mind. I'm well rid of that place, it was hell. And now I get to stay here, with my best-friend-and-then-some, for the foreseeable future – no matter what it does to my pride – so I figure it's a pretty decent trade-off."

I knew that his heart wasn't fully into what he was saying, but I smiled at him all the same.

"Now go, you've got friends to entertain," Sev said briskly, pushing me away with a smirk. I only paused for a moment, kissing him softly.

"It'll be alright," I said quietly.

"I know full well it will be, now go!" Sev laughed. I grinned at him before turning away and returning to my bedroom.

* * *

><p><strong><em> Meow. The new stuff starts in the next chapter. And I'd be your best friend if you'd click that tiny little review button down there... you know the one. <em>**


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: This one is long too. I get the feeling that they might all be longish, sorry, but don't hold me to that. I'm really good at getting lazy, see. ANYWHO._**

A hand was shaking my shoulder. I shrugged it off and moaned into my pillow, keeping my eyes shut.

"Lily," a voice whispered.

"Sev," I replied, my own voice scratchy.

"It's the fourteenth, Lily."

"Of August?" I cried, sitting upright, fully awake.

"No, of January. Yes, the fourteenth of August, let's _go_!" Sev said with a laugh. I tore the covers off and shooed him from my bedroom, hurriedly getting dressed and pulling a brush through my hair. As soon as I was presentable I left the room, and found Sev already standing in the foyer. I beamed down at him.

"Sev and I are going out, mum," I called back. The two of us stepped out into the late morning sunshine and I caught Sev wink at me once before breaking into a run, his long legs carrying him over the pavement at a remarkable pace. I laughed and sprinted after him.

By the time I reached the playground, panting and clutching a stitch in my side, Sev was already sitting on one of the swings, smirking. "That was _not_ a fair race," I growled, falling onto the swing next to him. His only response was to stick his tongue out at me and swing higher.

I pumped my arms and legs and closed my eyes, reveling in the feeling of the wind in my hair, the chains in my fingers and the swoop in my stomach every time I swung. I giggled once, and Sev laughed beside me. "God, I feel nine years old again," I exclaimed.

"That's kind of the point, Lily," Sev chuckled. I opened my eyes just in time to see him leap off his swing at the peak, landing with a stumble and then falling to the sand.

"Pathetic!" I cried, swinging once more and letting myself jump into the air, landing perfectly beside him. We grinned at each other and I helped him to his feet. Hand in hand, we made our way through a copse of bushes at the back of the park and found ourselves in the little clearing by the creek where we had spent hours upon hours, Sev telling me everything he knew about the Wizarding world as I watched with wide eyes. We dropped into the grass – Sev with his legs splayed, his arms supporting him, and me cross-legged against a tree – and looked around.

"It's a hell of a lot smaller than I remember," Sev commented.

"Of course it is. You've grown a foot since last summer."

"Have not."

"Okay, maybe not a foot. But we're both a good deal larger than we were seven years ago."

Sev made a noise of agreement and fell silent. I didn't mind – when I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the creek behind us and the wind in the trees, I could pretend that I was nine years old again. Nine-year-old Lily didn't have to worry about the beginnings of a terrible war or the fact that her best friend's mum had disowned him. And she certainly didn't have to worry about boys.

I loved Sev... but part of me loved James as well, and no matter how much I hated to admit it to myself I knew it was true. Why else would my heart flutter when he grinned at me, why else would his name drift into my thoughts at the strangest times? On the few occasions we had seen each other since what I had come to know as the bed incident, I couldn't help but notice how much he had changed, too. To him it seemed like he no longer had a chance with me, and suddenly all of his cocky arrogance was gone. He didn't have to ruin Sev in my eyes anymore, and so he was acting normal – and normal was extremely likable.

_Sev is your best friend. Sev needs you more. Sev loves you more than James does, Sev's changed his entire life for you…_

_ But James…_

I huffed quite a bit louder than I had intended to, and Sev's eyes darted to me. "What's wrong?" he asked. I gave him a small smile, shaking myself.

"Nothing. If anything I'm just mad at myself for being hungry…"

"We could go back to your place and get something to eat," Sev offered, concern filling his eyes as he half-stood up. I laughed and scooted closer, pulling him back down.

"Sev, I'm fine," I assured him. "Just a twinge. Anyway, there's not a chance that I'm going to leave this place on the day we met, I'm going to spend the whole day here like we always do."

"Hmm. Well, considering this is our friendship anniversary, what d'you say we celebrate?" Sev said slyly.

"Oh? And what sort of celebration might you have in mind?" I asked innocently, fighting not to smile. Sev's lips claimed mine eagerly and I kissed him back just as fervently, and finally the doubts were chased out of my mind.

The days crept by, and soon we were piling back into Alice's mum's car on our way to Diagon Alley for school supplies. To everyone's surprise, Sev and Remus had become almost friends; sending owls back and forth, having serious conversations or just telling jokes. Peter seemed content enough to accept Sev's sudden change in heart, but Sirius still looked at him like he was some foul dung beetle and in James's hazel eyes I could see that he was hiding heartbreak. I almost felt sorry for him.

"Where to first?" Alice asked, still stumbling after the hectic Gringotts cart ride.

"Books," Sev said eagerly.

"If we go to Flourish and Blotts first you'll have nothing to look forward to all day and you'll end up all sullen and whiny," I reminded him with a grin, squeezing his hand. Everyone laughed.

"The apothecary then? I'm in desperate need of bicorn horn…" Remus mused, and we set off down the street. We darted from shop to shop, my money growing lighter as the bags on my arms grew heavier. It was a relief when we finally made it around to the Leaky Cauldron for a break and a snack.

Alice and Peter were talking animatedly about Herbology. Sirius and James were laughing loudly at some joke, and I tried not to giggle when I realized that the brunette was flirting shamelessly with the Gryffindor Seeker. I was most interested in the conversation Remus and Sev were having. They were talking about Defence, and how horrible last year's teacher had been, but I was paying more attention to the boys themselves. Both of them – even Sev – looked like they were thoroughly enjoying each other's company; a relaxed smile that I had never seen outside of our place was spread across Sev's face. I watched the two of them talk, and every now and then Sev's eyes would meet mine and he'd give me the tiniest of winks before continuing.

I wasn't overly surprised when Mary cornered me in Flourish and Blotts. "You and Snape," she said plainly. "Are you a thing?"

"_Severus._ And I suppose you could call it that, yeah, why?" I retorted. Mary looked almost relieved.

"Oh good. Then James can stop trying to get you to be his girlfriend and I can try to get him to be my boyfriend."

"Mary," I said suddenly, making sure none of the others were around. "What do you do when there are two boys -"

"You choose Snape," Mary interrupted. I gave her a withering look. "No, I'm not just saying this because I've fancied James since third year. I'm saying this because if what you say is true, about his mum kicking him out and his Death Eater pals trying to recruit him, Snape needs you more than James does. If you pick James, not only will I hex you into next week but Sn-Severus's life will go to hell."

"Really?" I said, surprised.

"Positive." Mary eyed me thoughtfully. "Now, what do you think it is with Potter? Is it because you're ginger, because I could dye my hair…"

"Shut up," I laughed. "James will like you for you, I guarantee it. You'd make a good couple."

"Really?"

"Positive," I said with a grin.

"Care to join us, Lily?" Remus asked, letting me exit the prefect's compartment before him.

"Sorry, Sev is waiting on me at the end," I said with an apologetic smile. Remus nodded and I waved goodbye before heading down the Hogwarts Express.

Two hours into the train ride, whispers were already flying. "Lily!" Dorcas Meadowes exclaimed as soon as I had entered the platform. "Alice Prewett owled me and she said you and Snape were dating?"

"I suppose we are, yes. Why?"

"Didn't he call you a…"

"Yes."

"And now he's your boyfriend."

"That he is."

Dorcas had given me a look that suggested she thought I was insane before drifting away.

"Hello again, Miss Evans." I glanced up and saw Sev poking out of one of the compartments. He was smirking, but his eyes were dark and troubled.

"Hello to you too, Master Snape," I said, smiling when he took my hand and kissed it. "What's wrong?"

"Just… it's just the talk going around," Sev said evasively. I frowed slightly but decided not to dwell on it.

"Have we got the compartment to ourselves?"

"Nope!" I glanced into the compartment and saw Alice sitting with her boyfriend Frank Longbottom. I grinned at her and sat down across from the two of them, Sev dropping down beside me.

"So how'd you do on your OWLs?" Frank asked after a moment, and we whiled away a good amount of the trip talking. When night began to fall, we shooed the boys out of the compartment to change.

"Mary told me," Alice said quietly, and I paused in the middle of pulling my sweater on.

"Told you what?" I asked, my voice muffled through the fabric. Alice pulled the sweater past my face with a smirk.

"About you and Sev and Ja-"

"Don't go there," I said quickly. "It's the last thing I want to think about."

"You've got to though," Alice said with a sad little smile. "The longer you ignore it the more of a problem it will be. When Mary and James end up together, you'll end up jealous."

"I will not!" I said indignantly.

Alice ignored me. "You fancy Sev."

"I l… I love him," I said, stumbling over my words as I realized how true they were.

"Right. And you fancy James."

"I -"

"Lily."

"Maybe a little," I confessed.

_"Lily!"_

"Okay, a lot!" I cried, throwing up my hands. "But what does it matter? I love Sev more than I fancy James, and that's the way it's going to stay!"

"Are you sure about that?" Alice said warily. I set my jaw.

"Yes."

I must have made it pretty clear that we were done talking about it, because Alice said nothing more about James for the rest of the trip.

I didn't get a moment alone with Sev until we were both standing outside the Great Hall before the Welcome Feast. "Here we go," he muttered; clearly he was as annoyed by the talk as I was. I turned to him, studying his face. He looked back at me, puzzled.

"I love you, Sev," I whispered. Sev's eyebrows shot up his forehead and I smiled.

"You aren't joking?" he spluttered after a moment.

"Why would I joke about something like that?" I said, laughing lightly. After half a second's hesitation, I rose up on my toes and kissed him.

"I love you too, Lily," he said dazedly after we had broke apart. I gave him a small smile and a tight hug before turning to go over to the Gryffindor table, but his hand grabbed my sleeve before I could go too far. "Want to meet me in the charms corridor after the feast?" he asked quietly, smirking slightly.

"Definetly," I said, grinning. "See you, Sev." I gave him a tiny wink before moving away. I could feel his eyes on my back all the way to the Gryffindor table.

As soon as I had lead the first years back to the common room and given them the usual information, I slipped out of the portrait hole and headed down to the third floor. The charms corridor was deserted, but I didn't mind. Instead I sat down on the floor, leaning up against the wall, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

My eyes were drooping shut and my chin lolled onto my chest. "Miss Evans?" a voice asked. My eyes flew open, but they didn't fall on Sev – instead, Sir Nicholas was floating in front of me.

"Oh, hi Nick," I said, yawning and stretching.

"What on earth are you doing down here?"

"I was… uh… I was waiting for Severus Snape," I admitted. "You haven't seen him, have you?"

"Slytherin, correct? Black hair, hooked nose?" Nick said, and I nodded. "Can't say that I have, Lily, terribly sorry… I'll keep an eye out, though you should really be getting up to bed."

I sighed in defeat. "Alright, just… if you do see him, tell him I'm going to kill him in the morning, alright?" Nick chuckled but agreed, and I made my way back to the common room feeling slightly dejected.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Go on, click the review button. You know you want to. I'll love you forever and ever!<strong>_

_**The next update should be quickish, because as I'm typing these words I've got the document open and I've got even more written. So yeah. **_


	3. Chapter 3

Sev wasn't at breakfast.

I didn't eat a thing. Instead I just sat on the bench, fidgeting with my tie, staring at the spot where he always sat. Disappointment had made way for anxiety; Sev was never sick and he never missed a class.

"Maybe he just overslept," Alice suggested.

"Sev doesn't oversleep," I muttered. Alice laid a hand on my arm.

"Honestly Lily, relax. Just wait and see, he'll be sitting in Potions right up front, saving you a seat."

* * *

><p>Our bench was empty at Potions. I sat down in one spot and put my bag at Sev's, my eyes never leaving the door. The bell rang and Slughorn began the lesson, but I hardly paid attention to his words.<p>

By the time lunch rolled around and Sev was still nowhere to be found, I was barely restraining myself from sprinting down to the dungeons to find him myself. "Sev doesn't just do this," I kept insisting. "Missing classes is one thing, but missing out on seeing me… it's not in his nature!"

"Right. Because that's not being full of yourself at all," Sirius said loudly.

"Piss off, Black, you and I both know it's true," I snarled.

When the final bell rang, I decided I had had enough. I shoved my books into my bag and marched down into the dungeons, scowling. I had a vague enough idea where the Slytherin common room was, but I wasn't sure which stretch of wall exactly was the entrance. I wandered up and down the corridor, muttering possible passwords through my clenched teeth.

"Hey!" I turned around and felt my stomach turn to ice – a group of Slytherins my age were sauntering towards me, Avery at the lead. They were all Sev's old friends, and they all looked particularly malicious. "What're you doing down here, mudblood?"

I set my jaw. "Where's Severus," I demanded. Avery's eyebrows shot up and he lead the other boys in a roar of laughter. Dread filling every part of me, I tightened my grip on my wand. "What did you do to him, you bastards?"

There was a sharp pain on my cheek and I fell against the wall. Avery had slapped me. "You should really show us some respect, mudblood," he growled.

"I'll show you some when you earn it," I retorted hotly, but before Avery could point his wand at me it was shot out of his hand.

"No dueling in the corridors. Ten points from Slytherin," Remus said calmly. Avery glared at the prefect.

"Get lost, both of you," he spat. Remus beckoned me over and we began walking away quickly. I didn't dare to look back.

"Thank-you," I whispered.

"What were you doing down here, anyway?" Remus asked.

"Looking for Sev."

"What a coincidence, I was looking for you to bring you to him."

I paused. "Bring me to him? Why can't he come find me himself?" I asked slowly. Remus opened his mouth and shut it again, his eyes apprehensive, and then I knew. I swore and broke into a sprint through the castle, Remus's protests echoing behind me. I skittered to a stop in front of the hospital wing's doors, very nearly running right into the Slytherin I had been looking for all day.

"Sev!" I gasped, throwing my arms around him.

"Lily!" he laughed, holding me close. "Is there a problem?"

"You tell me!" I said angrily. "You're the one in the hospital wing, you're the one who disappeared all day, you're the one who blew me off last night…"

"I was just feeling a little under the weather, Lily," Sev said softly, smoothing my hair. "Nothing that Madame Pomfrey's Pepper-Up Potion couldn't fix. I'm sorry I missed you last night."

"But you never get sick."

Sev chuckled. "Everyone gets sick, Lily."

"Not you," I said stubbornly, burying my face in his chest. "I thought those other Slytherin creeps had done something terrible to you."

Maybe I was just imagining it, but I thought Sev hesitated before kissing the top of my head. "You're so paranoid."

I sighed. "I know." I gave him a weak smile. "So because you skived off last night… figure it's safe to say same place same time tonight?"

Sev smirked. "Why wait?" he said slyly, and I giggled as he took my hand and pulled me behind the nearest tapestry.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so what is moonstone used for again?"<p>

"Draught of Peace, and some love potions," Sev muttered, his eyes never leaving the quill he was moving across his own essay. I scribbled down the information and rolled up the parchment, propping my head in my hands and watching Sev work. He was frowning at the parchment as he wrote, and his left hand was curled into a fist. A crease appeared between my eyebrows; he had been tense like this ever since the start of term a week ago. Now we were sitting in the library on a Sunday night, and I was getting fed up with the smiles that never reached his eyes.

"Seriously, Sev, what's wrong?" I asked. Sev looked up at me in alarm, and then he relaxed into his almost-smile.

"Nothing, Lily."

"Don't _nothing _me, Severus. Something's up with you and you're not telling me," I said angrily – or, as angrily as I could without alerting Madame Pince.

"That's because you don't need to worry about it," Sev hissed, and his face fell as soon as he realized he had given something away.

"Sev!" I cried. Sev looked completely furious with himself.

"Look Lily, I'm not going to discuss this here," he growled, already stuffing his books into his bag.

"We_ are _going to discuss this though," I retorted icily, slinging my bag over my shoulder. Sev opened his mouth but snapped it shut when he saw my expression. I seized his hand and stormed out into the corridor, only stopping outside a broom cupboard. I yanked the door open and shoved Sev inside before closing the door behind me.

"A broom closet, Lily?" Sev asked, raising an eyebrow. I raised my wand and lit the tip.

"Tell me what's wrong."

"No. Nothing's wrong, I don't want you to worry."

I laughed tensely, reaching out and holding one of his hands. "Can't you tell that I'm worrying already?"

"It'll make it worse…" Sev's eyes were roaming around the closet, avoiding me. I frowned.

"Look at me," I said fiercely, and finally his eyes locked onto mine at last. They were full of pain and fear and reluctance. My heart sank. "Sev, please…" I moved closer and brushed a hand against his face, and he shuddered.

"It's just the other boys in my dormitory," he said carefully. "They don't like the idea of you being my girlfriend and they don't like the idea of me backing out of the Death Eaters."

"They don't like it," I repeated, having an awful feeling that I knew where he was going.

"Not at all. And they've been giving me a hard time about it."

"What's that supposed to mean? Sev, do I need to go to Dumbledore…?"

"No!" Sev cried. "No, that'll just make it worse. Really, Lily, I can deal. They'll get bored with heckling me and they'll go off and heckle someone else."

I stared hard at him. I was almost positive that the Slytherins weren't just heckling Sev, but I didn't say anything. The Death Eaters didn't seem to be the kind of organization you could just drop out of. I sighed and hugged him.

"I love you so much," Sev murmured.

"It'll be over soon. They'll get bored and they'll leave you alone." I was speaking to reassure myself as much as to reassure him. Sev's hands were trembling slightly and I held them both, kissing his cheek. "It's all going to be okay."

"It's all going to be okay," Sev repeated hoarsely, and after a moment he gave me a soft kiss. "Come on then, let's go back to the library."

"Do we have to?" I asked in a whiney voice, though I felt a good deal better now that I knew what was going on.

"What happened to the ever-studious Lily Evans?" Sev asked with a chuckle, getting to his feet and pulling me with him.

"Oh, she's still there," I said. "She's just bored because her friend went and got sick, and now she has to wait around for him to finish his essay."

"Shut up," Sev laughed, and it was a real laugh this time, one that made his eyes sparkle. I beamed at him, glad to have the old Sev back, and hand in hand we returned to the library.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: Hmm? _**

**_I just want to say thanks for all the reviews, they make me a very happy Brodi. :3 You guys are all Totally Awesome. _**

**_(On a completely different note, A Very Potter Threequel. That's all I've been thinking about, so I'm sorry if this isn't as quality. Fangirling is a very distracting past-time, especially when Darren Criss and Joe Walker are involved.)_**

**_JUSSAYIN'._**


	4. Chapter 4

At breakfast some time at the beginning of October, I wasn't all that surprised to see a handsome owl landing in front of me with an invitation written in Professor Slughorn's handwriting.

"What's that?" Alice asked interestedly.

"An invitation to one of Slughorn's parties," I muttered, scanning the letter. "He's having one Friday night."

"Lucky," she pouted. "I love a good party."

"You wouldn't like these ones, I assure you," a voice said silkily, and Sev wrapped his arms around me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder. "Do we have to go?"

"Mmm, I'm afraid so," I said with a smile, craning my neck to give him a peck on the lips. "Wouldn't want to miss out on a chance to make my dear friend Alice jealous, would I?"

"You're an awful person," Alice laughed, and Sev dropped onto the bench beside me. "Ooh, a snake at the Gryffindor table. Very rebellious."

"Lions make far better company," Sev said evenly, but I caught his eyes flicking across to the Slytherin table, full of contempt.

"Doesn't matter, I'm done anyway," I said, putting down my fork and getting to my feet. Before I could say another word, a certain brunette Gryffindor bowled me over, squealing like a pig. Sev just barely caught me before my head cracked on the stone floor.

"Bloody hell, Mary!" Alice exclaimed. Mary attacked me in a fierce hug, still squealing.

"Lily! Guess who's got a date to Hogsmeade with James?"

"That's great, Mary!" I laughed, prying her away. "Merlin, if this is how you react when he asks you out, I don't want to know what's going to happen if he proposes." Mary giggled as she climbed onto the bench next to Alice. Sev helped me straighten up and we started towards Potions class.

"Macdonald and Potter?" Sev asked, raising one eyebrow. I smirked.

"Better than Evans and Potter, isn't it?" I teased.

"Far better," Sev said gruffly. "A million times better."

I laughed and tweaked his hooked nose. "I've never pegged you as the jealous type, Sev."

"Severus Snape is not jealous," Sev said stubbornly.

"Sure you aren't," I said, squeezing his hand, and even he smiled a little.

"Come on then, or we'll be late."

* * *

><p>I found Sev waiting for me outside the Gryffindor common room on Friday. "Good evening, Madame Evans," he said, layering on a fake posh accent. "Do you require accompaniment to Professor Slughorn's party?"<p>

I giggled and took the arm he offered. "As a matter of fact, I do." We set off down the corridor and Sev grinned at me.

"You look beautiful," he commented.

"I do not, all I did was fiddle with my hair a little and put on some mascara. I can't wear anything but robes until his Christmas party."

"Mm, well, you always look beautiful."

"Shut up, Sev, you know I'm no good at taking compliments," I said, blushing. He chuckled quietly.

"Ah, lovely Lily!" Slughorn boomed as soon as he had opened the door. "And the dashing mister Snape! Come in, come in, so glad you could make it…" he ushered us into his office, where a dozen or so others were already sitting around a table. I smiled politely at them and sat in a chair between Sev and a Ravenclaw girl.

It was just like any of Slughorn's other parties – slow and tedious. I knew Sev's patience was wearing thin when he set down his fork and stopped eating. Under the table, he twiddled his long fingers together and began to bounce his knee. I rested my hand on it and gave him a small, apologetic smile.

"… and as for Miss Evans here," Slughorn said, and I snapped back to attention. "She brewed up a Draught of Peace in twenty minutes flat, didn't you?"

I blushed. "Sev did help," I admitted.

"Ever the modest one, aren't you?" Slughorn said, laughing jovially. "But of course, the two of you certainly make a dynamic duo – both inside and out of the dungeons!"

He laughed again, along with some of the others. I looked away, biting my lip and trying to hide my annoyance. _Why do you put up with Slughorn, anyway? _I asked myself for the millionth time.

"Thank-you, Professor," Sev said evenly, though his fist was clenched under the table. "And thank-you for this dinner. But I'm afraid I have to go, Professor McGonagall wants twelve inches on her desk tomorrow morning," he lied fluidly, getting to his feet. I rose with him and wasn't questioned as I followed him out into the corridor.

"I hate that man," Sev growled as soon as we had walked far enough away from the office.

"You're not alone," I assured him. "Too nosy and too loud for his own good, isn't he?"

"He's not a very good teacher, either," Sev continued. "He caters only to his favourites – so you and I – and completely neglects everyone else. Hell,_ I'd _make a better teacher than he would."

I stared at Sev for a moment. "You know, I think you would," I agreed. Sev looked at me in alarm.

"It was only a joke."

"But Sev, you'd make an amazing Potions professor. You'd be even better for Defence!" I exclaimed.

Sev frowned. "Maybe," he grunted, sounding uninterested. I grinned but didn't linger on the subject much longer.

"Guess what next weekend is?" I asked in a sing-song voice. Sev smirked.

"I can tell by the tone of your voice that it's the Hogsmeade weekend, isn't it?" he drawled.

"It is indeed. And unless you're going with some other lucky girl, would you be my escort?"

"As a matter of fact, I am going with someone," Sev said, and I stared at him, confused. "Yes, she's a gorgeous redhead, she's in Gryffindor but it doesn't really matter, she's got these beautiful green eyes… and she's a fantastic kiss-_umph_."

It was a good five minutes before we returned to our aimless wandering.

* * *

><p>"So, Snape, play Quidditch much?"<p>

"Not since you jinxed me off my broom at our first flying lesson, Potter."

James smirked and Sirius roared with laughter. I glanced at Sev, but his thin lips were curled into a relaxed smirk of his own. I grinned in relief.

"Nine Butterbeers," Rosemerta said tiredly, setting down the drinks on the table with her wand. We paid her and she drifted away to another table, Peter's watery eyes following her all the way.

"Wormtail, you're such a pig," Remus chuckled, and we all laughed.

We were sitting in the Three Broomsticks – Sev and I, James and Mary, Alice and Frank, plus the other three Marauders. Both Mary and James seemed to be enjoying themselves – and Alice and Frank had already snogged twice. The two of them were made for each other… part of me wondered if anyone thought the same about Sev and I.

"I've got Frank, Mary has James, Lily has Severus, Peter has his Madame Rosemerta -" Alice wagged her eyebrows at Peter and we laughed again. "But who do you two have?" She turned to Sirius and Remus, and the latter of the two threw an arm around the former.

"I'd sooner have a best mate than a girl," Remus said.

"Speak for yourself, Moony," Sirius laughed. I thought I saw a flicker of a frown dance across Remus's face, but I shrugged it off.

"Anyway, when we're done here where are we going next?" I asked.

"Sirius and I are going up to the Shrieking Shack," Remus announced.

"We are?"

"We _are._" The sandy-haired boy's eyes were hard and frosty, and Sirius nodded quickly.

"Right. And Alice has been trying to drag me into Madame Puddifoot's for ages," Frank said, grinning.

"Mary and I will probably go to Honeydukes," James mused, and Mary's face lit up. Pair by pair the others left, but it wasn't until Sev impatiently cleared his throat that Peter went scurrying away, giving Sev and I the booth to ourselves.

"You don't think Lupin and Black…?" Sev asked, and I gave him a withering look.

"Absolutely not. I mean -" I dropped my voice to a whisper, worried that one of the boys might appear out of the blue. "Maybe Remus. But definitely not Black, you've seen the way he ogles girls."

"I'm just saying… it could be an excellent disguise."

"Shut up," I laughed, hitting his arm. "Anyway, if it was… like that… Remus would tell me, I'm sure of it. Now let's talk about something else."

"Such as?" Sev asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, it's almost Halloween," I offered. "Remember that one year when we were ten, and I convinced you to come trick-or-treating with Petunia and I?"

Sev smiled bitterly at the memory. "Yes, who could forget the night I almost died?"

"You did not almost die," I protested, sniggering. "You got mad when Petunia criticized your costume and lit your pillowcase on fire, yeah, but you had enough sense to get it the hell out of your hands."

"No, your mum had enough sense to tear it out of my hands and stomp on it, ruining all my beautiful candy…"

"Poor Sev."

"Poor Sev indeed."

* * *

><p>I was sitting by the fire in the common room, working on an essay, when I heard someone call my name. I glanced up and smiled at Remus, who was looking nervous and ruffled.<p>

"Something wrong?" I said with a smirk. Remus's eyes didn't meet mine, and he fiddled with a loose thread on his sweater.

"Lily, could you come with me a moment?" he asked quietly. I frowned but nodded, setting aside my parchment and following him out into the corridor. It wasn't until we had reached a secret passage hidden behind a wall that Remus faced me, taking a deep, bracing breath. "Lily, I'm gay."

_"What?"_

"I'm – please don't make me say it again, it was hard enough the first time." Even in the dim light I could tell he was blushing furiously. I pulled him into a tight hug, my eyes wide.

"Oh Remus… I don't really know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," he said, patting my back awkwardly. "I figured I'd tell you, so that it wouldn't be so strange when I said that I've fancied Sirius for a year now and I have no idea what to do about it."

I fought the urge to let my jaw drop. "Sirius? Is he…?"

"Gay? Yes, he is, but he does a fantastic job of hiding it."

I tried not to show how strange the idea was to me. "Well, what do you need help with then?"

"Like I said, he does such a good job of hiding it and denying it… it's frustrating, is all," Remus said. "I know he fancies me as well – he's said it before, just this last summer. But now we're back at school and he's off snogging girls behind suits of armor -" Remus's tone became bitter and sad "- and acting like I hardly exist."

"That must be horrible," I whispered, feeling nothing but compassion and sympathy for the boy in front of me. "What do you want me to do?"

"I wouldn't mind if you talked to him. You don't have to say it was me that told you to, or… never mind," Remus sighed. "Never mind, I'll talk to him myself."

"Are you sure, Remus? I don't mind," I said truthfully.

"You can say something if you like, but I do think I'll have to talk to him eventually." He gave me a weak but relieved smile. "Thank-you, Lily."

I pulled the prefect into another bone-crushing hug. "Thank _you _for telling me, Rem." I hesitated for half a moment. "Would you hate me forever if I told Sev too? I swear, his lips are sealed."

Remus studied me before nodding briskly. I watched him with a slight frown, still trying to process the sudden change of events, before hugging him fiercely one last time. "This doesn't change a thing, you know."

"Trust me, I know," Remus laughed. "If you didn't run away screaming when I told you I was a werewolf, I figured it'd be safe enough to come out to you."

I beamed at him and together we headed back to the common room. "So this explains why you've always been so willing to go shopping with Alice, Mary and I!" I exclaimed suddenly, and Remus laughed.

"It was a good chunk of the reason, the rest of which being that you're a fantastic friend."

"Oh, shut up. I'm not half as awesome as you are."

We climbed back into the common room. Instantly, Mary called me over to join her and the other girls at a table, and James beckoned Remus over with a loud yell. Remus and I shared a quick smile – his relieved and grateful, mine encouraging and kind – before we went our separate ways.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Okay, so we've got Jary, Falice (I totally made those up, by the way) and now Wolfstar, all under the supreme reign of the Good Ship Snily. This is turning out to be interesting, especially because I've never done anything remotely slash-ish. Until we hit April or May of their seventh year, I'm just as lost as you are as to where I'm going with this. So I'm just gonna write and see what comes of it, mkay? Ideas, comments, questions and reviews are all greatly appreciated.**_

**_*wink wink nudge nudge*_**

**_OH! And I've just been ending it where it felt right, but do you people prefer longer chapters or shorter ones? _**


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Yeah. I'm quite the lazy person, really, but at the same time I'm actually realizing that bits of "Always" fit quite well into bits of this. So yes, I admit it, I stole the whole snowball fight scene.**_

_**From myself.**_

**_Hopefully the ending will make up for my self-robbery, hmm? *le forboding laughter* _**

* * *

><p>I wasn't sure that anything could surprise me more than Remus and his problem with Sirius, but I was proved wrong on Halloween evening.<p>

"… and of course, Pettigrew's mouse went and ran away, so him and James and I stayed back to catch the damn thing and… what's wrong?" Sev asked, frowning, because I was staring at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

"You called him James."

"Called who James?"

"Potter! You said that Pettigrew and James and you stayed back after Transfiguration to catch some mouse… and you said _James!_" I insisted.

"Oh." Sev looked puzzled. "I suppose I did."

I gaped. "How… is it April Fool's Day? Did the entire world go completely round the bend when my back was turned? You are Severus Snape, aren't you?"

"Lily," Sev chuckled, putting his hands on my shoulders firmly. "I'm doing what you wanted, aren't I? Being civil to the Marauders?"

"Yes, but…" I trailed off, my mind numb with surprise – and delight. I jumped into Sev's arms and held him tight. "It's better than I could have hoped for."

"You're terribly emotional, you know that?" Sev laughed. "Besides, now that he isn't constantly trying to win you, he's not such a toe rag. Black and I will probably never get on – we're distantly related, you know, and the rest of the family has been shunning us ever since mum married a muggle. Pettigrew is too spineless to form his own opinion, so he'll go with whatever James says… and Remus and I are already almost friends."

"Good." I said with a smile. "Now come on, you know I've always loved the Halloween feast the best."

"I do know that, even though we both know perfectly well that it's the same as always." I laughed and took Sev's hand, pulling him into the Great Hall. Jack-o-lanterns hovered overhead, bobbing and flickering, and a spectacular feast was laid out over the tables. I couldn't help but smile at the sight, and Sev smirked. Alice, who was already sitting with the Marauders, Frank and Mary, was waving frantically at us.

"So… Gryffindor table again?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Gladly," Sev said, but before we could take so much as a step, a voice stopped us.

"Hey, Snape. Since when d'you eat with the Gryffindorks?" Avery called. We both stopped in our tracks and turned – Avery, Mulicber and a number of other Slytherins were standing behind us, smirking cruelly. My blood turned icy in my veins.

"Ever since the Slythercocks – _Protego!_" The stunner bounced off Sev's shield but he stumbled at the force of it. I caught him before he could fall and glared at the Slytherins.

"Mulciber, I'm a prefect! No dueling, twenty points from Slytherin…" I said angrily, but I knew that I was stumbling over my words and sounded completely terrified. I_ was_ completely terrified.

"Knocking off house points won't stop us, you mud-"

"_Mulciber!_" Despite the situation I beamed at the sight of McGonagall striding down the hall, her face twisted in fury. "It's bad enough that you're trying to jinx a housemate, but how dare you think of calling Miss Evans…?"

"Professor…" Mulicber started to protest, but McGonagall was already shooing the boys out of the Great Hall, and I got the feeling that Slytherin house would lose a good deal more than twenty points that night.

"I'm sorry," Sev muttered.

"What for?"

"For not _demanding _that the damn Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor with you," he said. I smiled sadly and we headed towards the Gryffindor table once again.

* * *

><p>The dungeons were cold at the best of times, but in November it was positively frigid.<p>

"Pass the powdered unicorn horn," Sev said, puffs of condensation spilling from his lips as he spoke.

"I don't understand how we're supposed to heat up a potion when we can't even keep our fingers from going numb," I grumbled, handing over the jar and stoking the tiny fire underneath the cauldron.

"If I were a Professor I'd charm the room so the entire thing was like a stove," Sev growled, more to himself than me. "Hell, I'd hold classes upstairs during the winters, with a great roaring fire, and hand out free hot chocolate."

"Then be a Professor!" I insisted, poking him in the ribs. "You'd be brilliant at it!"

"No," Sev said with a laugh; over the past few weeks it had become something of a joke between us. "I'll be a Professor when you play professional Quidditch."

"You know I'm rubbish at Quidditch."

"Exactly."

"Can you two be any cuter?" Alice asked innocently from the bench behind us. I turned around and stuck my tongue out at her.

"Can you be any more of an eavesdropper?"

"Can we all get back to work?" I looked up at Slughorn and blushed, biting my lip guiltily. I turned back to the cauldron and Sev sniggered.

"Not a word, Snape," I snapped, but I was grinning.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Evans."

* * *

><p>I wasn't sure what made me do it, but as soon as I woke up to discover that the grounds were coated in a thick blanket of snow, I pulled on the warmest clothing I could find and set off towards the main doors.<p>

Just as I reached the entrance hall, I heard an amused voice call out. "I knew I would find you here." I turned around and beamed at Sev, who was also dressed in layers. "You're such a kid."

"So?" I said, sticking out my tongue at him childishly. He smirked and we pushed the doors open, the sunlight reflecting off the sun and half-blinding us. We stumbled out into the calf-deep snow, my breath bursting into little clouds in front of me.

We had only waded out a few meters before Sev called my name. I turned and got a face full of snow. I heard Sev laughing as he ran, and I didn't even pause to wipe the snow off my face before I scooped up a handful of snow and lobbed it towards him as hard as I could.

It landed a foot away from him. "Pathetic!" he yelled. I grabbed another snowball and threw it – my aim was just as bad – but by then I was running after him, gigging like mad. I knew that anyone watching would have thought we were both insane – after all, we were two sixteen-year-olds practically frolicking in the snow like toddlers.

Sev made a tightly-packed snowball and hurled it at me. An idea struck me at the same time as the snowball, and I staggered backwards, clutching my hands to my face. "Sev, you ass…" I groaned, and I watched between my fingers as Sev came marching back over, looking concerned.

"What happened?"

"That had a shard of ice in it or something… Merlin, that hurt…"

"Lily, I'm sorry… I -" I lunged forwards and tackled him as hard as I could, and I fell on top of him in the snow. "You're a terrible person, Lily Evans."

"You're incredibly gullible, Severus Snape." I smiled down at him, and noticed that we were so close together I could see snowflakes caught in his eyelashes. I let my head drop the last few centimeters and kissed him tenderly. He made a happy grunting sound and I felt his hand trailing up my back to my hair… and suddenly, the entire back of my neck was icy cold.

I sat bolt upright and Sev roared with laughter. I shook my head furiously, trying to shake off the snow he had dumped down the back of my jumper. "You moron!" I growled, and I took an armful of snow and dumped it on his face.

He jumped up as well, and we sat there laughing at each other for a long time. "I love loving my best friend," I admitted once my giggles had subsided. Sev smiled.

"I love being best friends with my girlfriend," he said simply.

"Mmm," I replied, loving the way he said _girlfriend_. He kissed me again and I could feel his nose on my cheek – it almost felt frozen. "Come on, let's go in… I'd sooner have a live boyfriend than one that froze to death." I caught him smiling at the use of the word and let me pull him to his feet, shaking off the snow like a dog.

As we walked up to the castle, I hugged Sev's arm tight. In the entrance hall, I saw Alice and Mary just coming down the stairs. Alice took one look at us and grinned. "What are you two, five?" she asked. My only reply was to grab a handful of the quickly melting snow left in Sev's hood and hurl it at her, hitting her right on the head.

"Idiots!" Mary laughed as Alice frantically shook her head. Sev and I shared a grin and I squeezed his arm once before we headed into the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Most couples sneak into broom closets and shag," Remus mused when we sat down next to him. "And then you two run off and have a snowball fight."

"Yes, well, Lily is _incredibly _immature, and I love her too much not to go along with it," Sev said with a smirk, pulling off his gloves and reaching for a goblet of orange juice. I laughed.

"Okay, so, who wants to help me with my Transfiguration essay?"

* * *

><p>"Lily!"<p>

I whirled around, alarmed by the panic in Sev's voice. He was sprinting across the entrance hall looking frantic and devastated at the same time. "What, what happened?" I demanded, and instantly regretted it.

"There's been an attack… very close to where we live. Muggles were killed and the Dark Mark was there…"

"Oh god," I cried, terror crashing over me. "Who… who's dead?"

"I don't know, the article didn't mention any names," Sev said quickly. A terrible thought crept into my head and I seized the front of Sev's robes.

"Sev, my whole family is made of Muggles!" I cried. "What if… what if because of us, one of those awful boys told them to target…" I choked back a sob, unable to finish. Sev pulled me into a hug; he was shaking violently.

"It'll be alright, I'm sure of it. Your family is fine," he said fiercely, and I was positive he was trying to convince himself of it just as much.

I heard voices and pulled my face away from Sev's chest. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Slughorn were all walking quickly towards the Great Hall, muttering in low, urgent tones. I tore myself out of Sev's arms and ran after them… Dumbledore would have answers…

"Professor Dumbledore!" I cried, and the teachers paused. Sev joined me and slipped his hand into mine. "There's been an attack where I live –"

"I know, Miss Evans," Dumbledore said, but there was something horrible about his tone. It was almost… pitying. My heart dropped like a stone.

"And?" Sev asked anxiously.

"Your mother and your sister are fine, they're at a safe house in London," Dumbledore said carefully, still speaking to me. His words were more painful than anything I'd ever felt.

"My mother and my sister," I repeated blankly, and my throat clogged up so that I was barely able to gag, "Daddy?"

Dumbledore opened his mouth and closed it again, his eyes full of sorrow. I didn't need the tiny shake of his head he gave me to know what was going on.

I dropped to the cold stone floor and wept.

* * *

><p><strong><em>*le dramatic music*<em>**

**_I'm sorry. I had to. Don't hate me, I beg of you._**

**_Reviews are lovely, you know. Almost as lovely as you... _**


	6. Chapter 6

"Lily, it's almost curfew," Sev said gently. "We have to go back to our common rooms."

"I can't," I choked. We had been sitting at the back of the library all day – both of us sitting in a large armchair, Sev holding me tight in his arms. Neither of us had moved or talked or even cried for hours I was too numb to cry. "Why won't he let me go to mum and Tuney?"

"Because they're at a safe house, we can't get to them until the Christmas holidays. Come on, Lil, your mum wouldn't want you to sit here like a zombie for the next week." Slowly, carefully, he began to shift and get to his feet, pulling me up with him. I clutched him close.

"Sev, you're the only thing holding me together right now, I can't leave you," I said desperately.

"It'll be…" Sev trailed off, seeing my expression. "I'll sleep outside your common room if I have to, Lily, but you need to sleep."

I stared at him a moment longer before sighing. "Don't do that, just… walk me there, would you?" I said in a tiny voice. Sev kissed the top of my head.

"Of course."

The corridors were cold and silent; everyone was already back in their common rooms. The Fat Lady came into view too soon, and I began to panic. "Severus, please, can't we just -"

He pressed one finger onto my lips, silencing me. "No, we can't. Now go, I'll be waiting here first thing in the morning." I gave him a half-hearted smile and hugged him one last time before slipping into the common room.

As soon as the portrait swung shut behind me, an overwhelming wave of panic crashed over me again. I turned, intending to run right back into Sev's arms no matter how much he protested, but a hand grabbed my shoulder. "Where have you… bloody hell, Lily, what's wrong?" Alice demanded, her dark eyes wide with surprise. Behind her I could see the rest of my friends staring at me with varying degrees of shock. I wasn't too alarmed – I couldn't have looked very good at all.

I swallowed heavily. "Move, Alice, I'm going to be sick," I said weakly, and Alice stepped out of the way quickly, her expression now almost terrified. I tore past her and just barely made it to the washroom on time, but there was nothing in my stomach to throw up. Instead I just sat there, leaning against the stall's wall, sobbing violently.

I heard footsteps echoing on the tile floor and acknowledged that Mary and Alice were standing outside of the stall door. "Lily?" Mary called tentatively. Even if I could speak, I wouldn't have known what to say.

"What did Snape do to her?" James roared from outside. "I'm going to kill him!"

"Nothing!" I called hastily, but I wasn't positive that I had made any sense.

"Lily, we're coming in," Alice announced, and the door banged open. I looked up at my friends pathetically, biting back any more tears. "Tell us what happened, _now,_" she said firmly, but her eyes were full of compassion.

I gulped again – I was going to have to tell them sometime, wasn't I? "Death Eaters killed my dad," I whispered, staring at my entwined fingers without seeing them. Instantly, both girls were squashed into the stall on either side of me, hugging me tight.

"What did he do?" Sirius yelled. "Come on, Evans, we've got like fifteen people out here baying for his blood, we just need a reason!"

"For Merlin's sake," Mary growled. "Here, Lily, let's get you up to our dormitory. It's a lot more comfortable than the floor of the girl's washroom…"

Together the girls helped me get to my feet. I felt empty, zombie-like, and I didn't protest or speak at all when they led me across the room and out into the hall. The Marauders looked furious, and the dozen-odd Gryffindors behind them looked confused and apprehensive. "Move," Alice said coldly.

"I'm going to kill Snivillus!" James said again.

"You have a girlfriend, you know," I snapped; the first thing I had said all day that made sense. James stared, his hazel eyes wide.

"Yeah, but I still care about you, and if some snake hurt you at all…!" he said threateningly.

"James, just let us deal with this, okay?" Mary said wearily. "Snape has nothing to do with this."

Grudgingly, the crowd parted and the three of us hurried up to the dormitory, where Dorcas was sitting and reading a copy of the Prophet and Marlene was changing the colours of her toenails with her wand. Both their smiles faded when their eyes fell on me. "Oh no," Dorcas said sadly. "I knew it was where you lived but I didn't…" she trailed off and held out the paper. I hesitated, not sure that I wanted to read it, but Mary snatched it up.

I dropped onto my bed and Alice sat next to me, and Mary began to read. "_At approximately 11:38 this morning, Ministry officials were called to a Muggle supermarket outside of Cokeworth, where there had been an attack by Death Eaters – followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Muggle authorities are reporting that it was an act of terrorism, and that a bomb was used – an explosive Muggle device – to blow up most of the supermarket. Of course, we know it was Dark Magic, and a number of Muggles were injured in the explosion. Seven Muggles were killed, and the Prophet will report the murders as soon as we know who the victims were._ Oh, Lily…" Mary added sadly, and dimly I was aware that tears were pouring down my cheeks again.

"Who?" Marlene breathed.

Alice glanced at me for a moment before saying, "Her father."

"Mum and Petunia are at a safe house somewhere outside of London," I said suddenly, my voice completely devoid of emotion. "Dumbledore won't let me Floo to them, he says there are all kinds of protection and Sev and I won't be able to see them until Christmas holidays…"

"That's not for another week though!" Dorcas cried.

"Don't remind me," I mumbled. There was an achingly long silence. "Look, I'm just going to go to sleep," I said with a yawn.

"So am I," Alice said, and there was a murmur of agreements. I burrowed under my covers, burying my face in my pillow as someone turned out the lights. I was positive that the others stayed awake long after I had, listening to me cry myself to sleep.

* * *

><p>There was a gruff-looking man waiting for us on the platform at the beginning of the holidays. "You're Lily Evans, right?" he said. I nodded mutely, taking in his grizzled appearance. "I'm Alastor Moody."<p>

"You're an Auror, aren't you?" Sev asked interestedly.

"That I am, sonny… and who are you?"

"Severus Snape, sir. I've been staying with the Evans's."

"If you say so. Anyway, I've been sent to take you to the safe house." Moody held out an arm and I took it tentatively, keeping one of my hands in Sev's. The man turned on the spot and suddenly it felt as though I was being pulled through a very tight pipe. After a second everything snapped back to normal and I stumbled a little, gasping for breath.

We were standing on a slushy road somewhere in the countryside. Great snow-covered fields spread out on all sides, but there was no sign of anything resembling a safe house. "Where are we?" Sev asked, squinting in the bright light.

"Temporary Headquarters of the Order of the Pheonix – number seven, Hunt road," Moody announced, and suddenly a quaint farmhouse dissolved into being in front of us.

"The Order of the Pheonix?" Sev repeated, clearly curious, but I didn't stick around to listen to Moody's reply. Somewhere in that house was my mum… I ran up to the front porch and hammered on the front door.

It was Petunia that pulled it open, and it was Petunia's hand that slapped across my face.

"Tuney…!"

"This is all _your_ fault!" she screeched. "You and Snape, it's all because of you two that those awful people…" She sobbed once and went running back into the house, leaving the door wide open.

Sev was at my side in an instant. "How is this our fault?" he said angrily. "Does she really think we wanted something like this to happen?"

I shook my head, taking his hand and squeezing it. As much as I hated it, my sister might have a point… I wouldn't put it past Mulciber to get revenge on us by telling his Death Eater family to target mine… I shoved the idea out of my mind, refusing to think about it. Instead, I stepped into the warm house, towing Sev behind me.

"Lily!" a voice cried, and I dropped Sev's hand instantly, letting myself be pulled into one of mum's bear hugs. She was crying and I fought not to burst into tears as well. "He went out for groceries and the next thing we knew a dozen wizards were at our door, ordering us to pack up and leave… and they told me that…"

"Mum, don't," I said fiercely. I didn't want to hear it any more than she wanted to say it. "Come on; let's find somewhere to sit down…"

As it turned out, there were a dozen-odd people living in the house at once – almost all of them were Aurors. Others passed through every now and again; there was always at least one new face at dinner. It wasn't until the day before Christmas Eve that I found out who they were.

"So what exactly is the Order of the Pheonix?" Sev asked, his fork pausing halfway to his mouth.

"Well, we're sort of a secret society, set up by Dumbledore himself," Moody explained. "We're all devoted to taking down You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters at all costs… we're the rebellion."

"And you really think you can do it?" Sev asked eagerly, and I could see in his face that he loved the idea.

"I know we can do it, sonny!" Moody said heartily. "We've got the best of the best on our side, we're already preventing raids and attacks… and we've got Dumbledore. Voldemort is going _down,_" he said firmly, pounding his fist on the table and making everyone's dinner jump.

I couldn't help it anymore, and broke into a grin – the first real grin I had worn in ages. A year ago Sev had been waist-deep in the Death Eater's world, and here he was now, his face shining at the prospect of a secret society taking down Voldemort once and for all. He was almost friends with the Marauders, he actually smiled and laughed at school… and he was my boyfriend. He really had changed for the better…

But a large part of me wished that my father had been there to see it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Lily's dad is dead and the war is heating up! *more dramatic music* I'm sorry, I really didn't like writing this any more than you probably liked reading it, but I was feeling particularly sadistic and couldn't resist. With any luck there will be more up before Monday! **_

_**I know I said the safe house was in London. I lied. It's somewhere out in the countryside, sorry - I'm Canadian, I don't know a thing about UK geography except for that Scotland is on top of England and Ireland is an island in itself... right?**_

_**Sorry, I'm rambling. Hope you guys liked that!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: I have a terrible habit of staying awake until four in the morning writing Snily. I'm sorry the last few chapters were so sad, I promise they'll stop being sad ASAP. **_

* * *

><p>There was a quiet knock on the door of my room and Sev slipped inside. "Hey, Sev," I said, closing my book.<p>

"No, don't, I can come back another time," he protested, turning to go.

"Come here. It's Christmas Eve, I'd sooner spend it with real people than paper and ink… the only reason I'm not down with the rest of you is because of…" I trailed off, biting my lip.

"Petunia," he said exasperatedly, sitting on the edge of my bed. I sat up higher and crossed my legs.

"Petunia," I agreed. "So is there any particular reason you're here, or are you just escaping my sister as well?"

Sev's face filled with dread and I frowned. He swallowed. "I'm sorry, you know," he said quietly. "Your sister was right. Mulciber or Avery probably got their parents to plan an attack specifically for your family, just to get back at me… I never meant for any of this to happen, I'm sor -"

"Sev!" I interrupted. "Don't you _dare_ feel like this is your fault. It's his fault, its Voldemort's, the fact that dad was there at all was a fluke."

"How do we know? What if Petunia -"

My laugh cut him off again. "Sev, since when does anything Petunia says matter? For all she knows about our world, _I_ killed him!" I knew that my face was clouding over even as I spoke, and tried to ignore what I was saying.

Sev sighed. "Lily…"

I gave a horrible impersonation of him, groaning and saying, "Severus." Just as I had hoped, he smiled. "Look, do you want this to be your fault?"

"No!" he exclaimed, looking shocked.

"Then stop trying to make it your fault," I said, grinning. Sev smirked a little.

"I'm being stupid, aren't I?"

"Of course you are, you're always stupid."

"Always? I find that hard to believe."

"Yes, always!" I giggled and scooted closer to him. "So, what do you want for Christmas, anyway?"

Sev laughed bitterly, his arms folding around me as soon as I got close enough. "I don't know, I've never done this before."

I gaped. "You've never had Christmas before?"

"Lily, in all the years we've known each other, for all the times you came running through the snow on boxing day and rattled off what you got from some Slughorn in a red suit, when have I ever said anything but, 'that's great!'?" Sev asked dryly.

"But that's terrible!"

"That's what happens when your dad's an alcoholic and your mum's half insane."

I stared at him. Sometimes it was almost easy to forget what a horrible life he had gone through; he had mastered the art of acting and throwing up barriers against everyone else. I hugged him and after a moment's hesitation he hugged me back.

"Well, in that case we'll have to make this Christmas special, won't we?" I whispered with a tiny smile. Sev did the tiniest of double-takes and broke into a broad grin. His kiss was light at first, but I snaked my arms behind his head and drew him closer, deepening it hungrily. He pushed me back until I was lying across the bed, with him on top of me. Our tongues were entwined and I could feel his hand creeping up my side towards my chest. We had never kissed like this – but I liked it. My own hands slipped down to the seat of his pants and he groaned. I gave a soft laugh before snatching at what little self-restraint I had left and sitting up. Sev pulled away, looking almost embarrassed.

"Mum's probably wondering where we are," I panted. Sev nodded, his black eyes full of reluctance.

"I love you," he said hoarsely. I opened my mouth to reply but a surge of passion rushed through me and instead I found myself kissing Sev again.

"Lily, your mum…" Sev said after a few minutes. I groped blindly to where my wand lay on the bedside table and pointed at the door, locking it and casting a charm so that no-one would be able to hear what was going on. Sev beamed incredulously. "What's gotten into you?"

"Call it Christmas spirit," I breathed, smiling. "Look, I'm not ready to shag or anything, I'm sorry. But I really wouldn't mind being snogged senseless." Sev's mouth came crashing down on mine again and I moaned happily, and for a little while I forgot everything except for the boy above me.

When we eventually made our way back downstairs, I had changed into a turtleneck to hide the red marks on my neck, and Sev's hair had to be brushed twice. We shared a quick smile before walking into the sitting room, where a large tree stood in the corner and everyone else in the house was sitting around the room, sipping goblets of Firewhiskey or wine and laughing. Sev and I dropped onto the carpet by the tree and joined in the conversation, the infectious holiday vibes making me smile and talk as though nothing in the world was wrong.

* * *

><p>I wrinkled my nose and screwed up my eyes, but after a moment I had to give into the tickling on my face and swat it away.<p>

"Ow! Good morning to you too," a voice grumbled, and my eyes flew open – I had hit Sev in the face.

"Sorry!" I laughed, sitting up. It only took my eyes a moment to fall on the stack of gifts at the foot of my bed, and I broke into a grin. "Happy Christmas, Sev!"

"Happy Christmas, Lily," he said with a smile. He passed up one of the presents from the pile. "Your sister's already torn through hers and your mum… well, I haven't seen her all day, I'm guessing she's sleeping."

"What time is it?"

"Not quite eleven," Sev replied. "Now go on, you have to open all these before you can open mine."

"And why's that?" I asked innocently, already undoing the bow on the first gift.

"Because I'm horribly cruel."

"That you are."

Eager to find out what Sev's present was, I hurried through the pile of gifts. My favourite was easily the large slab of Honeydukes chocolate Remus had owled, along with a note saying that he was going to try to talk to Sirius over the holidays. As soon as I was finished, with the wrapping paper strewn across the duvet and my gifts piled by the footboard, I grinned expectantly at Sev.

"Well?"

Sev chuckled and handed over a slim box covered in black velvet. "I didn't have time to wrap it, I owl-ordered it and it just showed up yesterday," he explained hastily. "Here, close your eyes." I obeyed and he took the box from my hands. The bed shifted around so he knelt behind me. I could feel his long, cold fingers on my skin and I shivered slightly, remembering the night before with a tiny smile. There was also the distinct chill of metal, and my smile turned into a grin.

"Can I look now?" I asked patiently. The bed creaked again and I felt Sev sit in front of me again.

"Now you can look," he said. I opened my eyes and glanced down, my breath catching in my throat. Hanging on a twisting chain was a tiny silver lily flower with a single red gem in the center. It sat just right on my collar bone.

"It's not much, I know," Sev said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I ordered it from this antique shop in Hogsmeade; it didn't cost a whole lot – not that you aren't worth it, I only meant -" I silenced him effectively with a kiss.

"It's beautiful, I love it," I said honestly. "I wish I had gotten you something half as decent…"

"You didn't have to get me anything!" Sev protested. I gave him a withering look and rummaged in the bedside table's drawer, pulling out a package wrapped in green.

"It's not much at all, nothing next to this," I admitted, gesturing to the necklace. Sev pulled off the wrapping paper with deliberate slowness, making me smile. His eyes widened at the sight of the book in his lap.

"Where on earth did you get this?" he breathed. After a moment of flipping through the pages, he paused. "You didn't get this, did you? You made it."

I nodded bashfully. "You're always making up all these different ways to make potions, and ones of your own… and I remembered as much as I could and wrote it all down and admittedly I might have looked through some of your notes but only because I wanted it to be perfect and I'm sorry but -" Now it was Sev's lips muting mine.

"This is the best gift I've ever gotten," he said, his voice low and rough. I grinned and felt myself turning red. We sat there for a little while longer – him flipping through the book I made, and me fingering his necklace – before there was a light knock on the door and mum poked her head in.

"Happy Christmas, mum," I said happily. Mum smiled.

"Happy Christmas, to both of you. Severus, I think Alastor could use some help downstairs with breakfast." Sev took the hint instantly because he kissed me on the cheek before getting up and leaving. Mum perched on the side of the bed and watched him go, and I noticed another present in her hands. "You're lucky to have him, you know," she said quietly.

"I know," I replied, taken aback by the sadness in her voice.

"Anyway, we had planned to give this to you on graduation or your wedding or another occasion, but considering the circumstances -" she paused for a moment and for a horrible moment I thought she was going to cry. "I decided to give it to you now." Mum held out the package and I took it silently, unwrapping it in the same slow, careful manner Sev would have.

It was a simple photo album, but as soon as I opened it I felt my heart swell with emotion. The first photograph was of me as a baby in my mum's arms, with dad standing right beside her and Petunia grinning from somewhere around mum's knees. I got older as the book went on, and gradually Petunia began to disappear from the pictures, to be replaced by a boy with greasy black hair and mismatched clothing. There was a picture of Sev and I in our Hogwarts robes, laughing at some long-forgotten joke on Platform 9 ¾ , and a picture of us in what looked like our third year, pretending to have some kind of duel in my backyard. The very last one in the album is one I didn't remember being taken; it's of Sev and I on the couch in the sitting room of my house, sitting close together and smiling at each other in a way that could only be described as love-struck. Dad was standing in the background making a goofy face; neither of us realized he was there. I made a sound like a laugh and a sob at the same time, and mum hugged me tight.

"I just miss him," I said shakily. "So much."

"I know you do, sweetheart," mum said, her voice tight and constricted. "I do too." She drew a long, shuddering breath and steeled herself. "But he wouldn't want us to be all weepy on his favourite holiday. Come on, everyone is downstairs."

I wiped away my tears with the back of my hands and nodded, standing up. I held the photo album close to my chest as I followed mum downstairs, two of my fingers creeping past the cover and holding Sev's necklace. Both presents meant the entire world to me.

"What's this?" Sev asked interestedly as I fell into the chair next to him. I passed him the album and watched his expression change from amusement to sadness and back to amusement again as he flipped through the pages. "I like this one the best," he said quietly, pointing to a picture of us just before Hogwarts. Sev was staring into the camera, wide-eyed and surprised, and I was kissing him on the cheek. A flower was tucked behind my ear and our faces were hot and flushed, and instantly I remembered the day it was taken – an afternoon in late August, after we had gotten back from school shopping in Diagon Alley for the first time.

_"Sev! Oh Sev, it's really happening!" I cried._

_ "Haven't I been telling you that all summer?"_

_ "Yes, but I never really believed it until now…!" Excited and overjoyed, I had pulled him close and kissed his cheek at the same time as a camera flashed. I giggled. "Mum…"_

Sev was smirking and I knew he was remembering the same thing. "I'd forgotten how cute you were when you were little."

"Me? Look at you!" I said with a laugh. "You were adorable!"

Sev groaned and covered up his face with a hand. "Are you kidding? Look at that nose…"

"Your nose is fine, boy," Moody said gruffly from across the table. "At least you've got the whole thing!" He tapped his own nose, which had a chunk missing, and a number of the Aurors around the table laughed.

Sev and I spent most of the time poring over the photo album, laughing at our younger selves – he was in at least half of the photographs. He flipped through his potions book and we shared Remus's chocolate, and after an enormous feast at dinner I went up to my room and fell asleep on top of the covers, not even bothering to change.

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><p><em><strong>AN: That was such a Lupin thing to do, sending chocolate...**_

_**Anyway, so in the next chapter, I believe we can look forward to MORE WOLFSTAR! YAAAY! **_

_**Reviews make me a happy walrus, you know. A very happy walrus. JUSSAYIN'.**_


	8. Chapter 8

**_A/N: I get the feeling that some people might not like this chapter, and I'm sorry. As much as I love to please you I'm also writing this for me, and if it's not right it's physically uncomfortable (I'm a bit of a freak that way, but if everything isn't just so it almost hurts). Now it feels right, and I like it, and hopefully you will too..._**

**_With that said, I've got a plan that carries right through until the eighties! I've already written blurbs that I'm going to slot in when the time comes, and I'm very excited about it all. So yeah. I'm going to shut up now and let you read, alright?_**

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><p>I didn't have to ask Remus how it went with Sirius – I watched the handsome pure-blood go sneaking into a broom closet with a Ravenclaw on the very first night we were back. I found Remus sitting in an armchair staring blankly into the flames, his eyebrows knitted together. I perched on the armrest and he glanced up at me lazily.<p>

"Hey, Lily, how was your holiday?" he asked politely.

"As good as it could have been, but it doesn't matter right now," I said, flapping my hand impatiently. "I'm assuming it didn't go too well with Black?"

Remus's face fell. "Well, no… I might have chickened out at the last moment though," he admitted, shifting uncomfortably.

"Rem," I chided gently. "You've got to talk to him sometime, don't you?"

"Sometime," he agreed, "but that doesn't mean it has to be sometime soon."

"I always thought you were smart," I said with a frown, tapping his sandy hair. "The sooner you do it the sooner you'll have an answer and this'll all be over with. D'you want me to talk to him?"

"No, it's got to be me," Remus said firmly. "I'm just going to need some Gryffindor bravery… and some good old-fashioned luck."

My eyes lit up as an idea hit me. "Luck, you say?"

Remus stared at me for a full minute before he realized what I was going on about. "Lily, don't you dare! There's no way Slughorn will ever let us -"

"Who says we need his permission?" I interrupted, my mind whirring. "We wouldn't need much, just enough for an hour or so, really… maybe even less… Sev and I are his top students, it wouldn't be hard for one of us to distract him while the other sneaks into his private stores and -"

"Lily!" Remus hissed, and I snapped my mouth shut. "Look, I really appreciate it and everything but I'd actually just like to drop it."

"What? Why?"

Remus looked around and sighed, and I dropped onto the floor beside his chair, looking up at him expectantly. "Because when you were gone over the holidays I missed you, and it wasn't until then that I remembered how much I had fancied you in our third year." A smile tugged at his thin mouth when he saw how surprised I was.

"Fancied… _me?_"

"Yes – and that's past tense, I'll have you know; you and Severus are perfect together and I'm not about to mess it up. But there I was realizing that I had really fancied you... and I fancy Sirius but that might only be because…" he trailed off, looking as though he had let slip a secret.

"There is no way you're going to shut up on me now, Lupin," I challenged. "What's the 'because'?"

Remus looked around again and closed his eyes. "Because in Diagon Alley the week before fifth year, Sirius kissed me – I don't know if it was real or just a laugh, but he kissed me, and ever since then I've just gone with it and…"

I stared, wide-eyed, as he swallowed and blinked and tried to hold back tears. The idea of Remus crying was a terrifying one. "Don't, it's okay," I protested, but Remus shook his head.

"I don't really know who I am, Lily, and no-one cares anyway. No-one cares about the prefect who spends all his time reading and studying, no-one cares about the werewolf…" I jumped up and hugged him, squashing myself beside him on the chair.

"Don't think like that, not even for a second. _I _care about you, you're like a big brother to me and I love you whether you're bent or straight, whether you're a werewolf or a vampire or even a centaur." I laughed once, though it wasn't exactly happy. We sat there for a little while, hugging each other and not saying anything.

"I don't think I am," Remus said finally. "Bent, I mean. I shouldn't have said anything before; it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing… I had to tell someone what was going on and I figured that was the easiest way."

"And why are you telling me all this now?" I asked.

"Well, Sirius and Katrina Canterbury went running off into a broom closet today," Remus said, his eyes squeezed shut and a tiny smile playing around his mouth.

"A Ravenclaw?" Remus nodded. "I saw… I didn't know you had though."

"I did, and it wasn't until that moment that I realized what an idiot I had been. I actually laughed at myself a bit."

"I still don't understand how this all started. I mean, I know, but why would he kiss you if neither of you were gay?" I frowned, still confused.

"I haven't the slightest idea," Remus said exasperatedly. "Look like I'll have to confront him after all, huh?"

"I'm afraid so," I said, smiling. Remus opened his eyes and grinned.

"You're incredible, you know."

"I am?"

"You are. Your father gets _killed by Death Eaters_ and all you're worried about is whether Sirius is gay or not?" Remus raised an eyebrow, and after a few seconds I laughed. "You really need to sort out your priorities."

"Right, well, my priority right now is not falling asleep on the floor; I'm going to bed," I said, stifling a yawn and getting to my feet. Remus stood up suddenly and hugged me tight. I hugged him back with a light laugh. "G'nite, Rem."

"Goodnight Lily… and thank you." He smiled warmly and I grinned back before turning and heading up to bed.

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><p>Some time in the second half of January I began to notice the fifth years starting to spend more and more time in the library or in the corners of the common room, studying for their OWLs.<p>

"Why are they starting in January?" Sev asked in a low voice, glancing past me to a group of Hufflepuffs bent over their books at a table in the back of the library. I snickered.

"I know! _We_ started in June – of fourth year."

"And neither of us got anything less than an E on our OWLs; why are you complaining?" Sev said with a laugh.

"Because you stole her away from us all last year!" Alice, Frank, Mary and Alice were suddenly standing around us. "And now we're stealing her back," Alice added, and her and Mary grabbed my arms. I laughed.

"And we're here to keep Snape company, aren't we Frankie?" James said with a grin, sitting in my chair as the girls pulled me out of mine.

"That we are."

"What do you have planned, may I ask?" I said, unable to keep the nervous hint out of my voice. Mary's surprises didn't always end well – the last time she had 'surprised' me I had ended up with burnt ears from a hair iron. Neither girl answered me, but continued to drag me from the library. Sev and I shared an exasperated look before he disappeared behind one of the many bookshelves.

Halfway down the row they stopped. I frowned at them. "What're we doing -" Mary clapped her hand over my mouth and Alice squatted down a little, shifting the books on the second shelf from the bottom.

"You haven't really seen the change in Severus yet, have you?" Mary whispered.

"Not in action," I admitted. "Except for the Hogsmeade trip back in October, other than that…"

"Well then get down here, look at our boyfriends!" Alice hissed. I got on my knees and peered through a gap Alice had made in the books.

"… eh, Severus?" Frank was saying.

"No, I wrote it all myself, originally -" Sev said, and I could just see his potions book lying on the table. "Lily's the one who actually made these copies and bound it all together."

James gave a low whistle. "So you actually came up with all these yourself?"

"Yes," Sev said, and to my surprise he was turning pink and shifting in his chair. "They're just easier ways and shortcuts to make the potions. You know, crushing instead of cutting, or adding in an extra stir in the opposite direction."

"So _this_ is why you're getting top marks in Potions!" Frank exclaimed, and all three boys grinned genuinely.

"You, mate, are a genius," James announced, jabbing a finger onto the page. "You've got to let us use this every now and again!"

"I'll consider," Sev said smoothly, but he was still smiling.

The boys went on talking but I had stopped listening. A single tear rolled down my cheek, which was starting to hurt from beaming so broadly. "This time last year, James'd be off with Sirius, giving Severus hell," Alice whispered. "Look at them now."

"And the old, shy Frank Longbottom is dead and gone," Mary said with a tiny giggle as Frank roared with laughter at some joke. Madame Pince's violent _'shh!' _echoed all the way back from the front desk.

"And Severus is barely recognizable," Alice finished. I watched them for a few minutes longer, paying more attention to Sev than anything else. He actually looked happy and at ease, the way he only used to when he was alone with me on the summers.

"Out of all the _surprises_ you've given me," I said, putting air quotes around the word, "this is by far the best."

"Oh, you didn't like the makeover last year?" Mary asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Except for the fact that I looked like a clown afterwards, it was lovely." I smiled and threw my arms around my friends, who laughed quietly at the memory.

We sat and eavesdropped for a little while longer before James said, "Right, well we'd best be off, I've got a Quidditch team to attend to!"

"Quidditch in this weather?" Sev asked with a bemused little smile, gesturing out to the frigid grounds.

"Of course. If we can play in all weather, what chance to you snakes have, huh?" James teased, but I could tell he was only joking. "See you, Snape!"

"That's our cue," Alice hissed, and the girls pulled me to my feet again. They frog-marched be back to the table and Sev looked up with a smirk.

"Alright, well, we're going to go down for something to eat," Mary said vaguely.

"See you later!" Alice said brightly, and the girls flounced away. I turned back to Sev, my face shining.

"I assume it was a good surprise then?" he said dryly.

"The best," I agreed, leaning across the table and grabbing his hands. "I love you so much, you know that?"

"I know," Sev said, surprised. I pulled him towards me and kissed him, but Madame Pince chose that moment to come walking past.

"Miss Evans! Mister Snape! Five points from each of your houses, and get _out of my library!"_

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><p><strong><em>AN: Well, what did you think? I liked it a good deal better than my original hazy plan. There's more to Sirius Black than what we've seen so far, I assure you..._**


	9. Chapter 9

_**I'm not Jo. If I was Jo, this would be canon. And I'd live in Scotland, which would be awesome. And I'd be filthy rich, which would be totally awesome... anyway.**_

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><p>With a giggle like a madwoman, Mary threw herself onto my bed. I just barely moved in time, narrowly avoiding having my legs broken.<p>

"What's got you so happy?" I growled. "Have you seen the length of the essay McGonagall assigned us?" I shook my book for emphasis, my half-full parchment rustling.

"Who cares about Transfiguration when James Potter is taking you on a very special date into Hogsmeade this weekend?" Mary said dreamily.

"Me!" I laughed. "What makes it 'very special', anyway?" Mary rolled over and gaped at me, and I was suddenly painfully aware that the other girls were doing the same thing. "What?"

"Are you joking?" Marlene demanded. "Do you know what day it is?"

"Friday?"

"Unbelievable!" Dorcas breathed.

"For Merlin's sake!" I exclaimed.

"Lily, this Saturday – tomorrow – just happens to be Valentine's Day, remember?" Alice prompted. I blinked, the news hardly affecting me.

"Oh. Alright, then that's awesome, have fun snogging Potter," I said absently, turning back to my essay. Mary made a strangled sound and pulled my book and essay away from me.

"Mary!" I cried.

"Lily!" she retorted. "How does this not excite you? It's your first Valentine's Day with Snape, aren't you two doing anything?"

"_Oh,_" I said again, finally realizing what she was getting at. "You mean like a date or something. Ah, no, actually, we've actually been pretty weighted down with homework – you would be too if you actually cared about school – so we planned to spend the weekend holed up somewhere finishing it all."

"Unbelievable!" Dorcas said again.

"Why do you have to be such a _buzz kill?"_ Marlene asked with a dramatic sigh. I scowled.

"I am _not_ a buzz kill. Guys, school isn't all about having fun, that's all I'm saying! We have to study hard if we want to be anything decent later on in life!"

"Honestly, Lily? There's no way you'd rather study than be out having fun, especially when you're having fun with your boyfriend," Mary said with a withering look.

"I don't want to, I have to!" I protested.

"Do you even realize how hard you've been working lately?" Alice demanded. "You've been throwing yourself into your school work even more than you did before, you've been helping Remus through whatever-the-hell his problem is – because you won't tell us anything – and you've been helping Severus with his Death Eater problem. On top of it all you're staying back after class to help Slughorn clear up, you've been spending all your time at the library or up here…"

I couldn't argue – I couldn't even remember the last time I had genuinely had fun. I knew exactly why, but I hated it. Alice saw right through me, the way she always did. "Lils," she said quietly, and I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"The only way I can deal with everything is by forgetting about it completely," I whispered, my hands shaking. "The busier I am the more distracted I am, and the more I can ignore the fact that they targeted my dad on purpose, and I can ignore the fact that mum and Tuney are far from home and probably way out of their element, and what if they find them? What if they break through the enchantments and…"

"Don't," Dorcas said forcefully. "Don't think like that."

"But _what if -"_

"Shut up, Evans," Marlene snarled, though her voice was laced with sympathy. I swallowed heavily, screwing up my eyes to hold back the tears.

"I'm a lot better at fixing everyone else's problems, is all. When it comes to my own I just push them off to the side."

Before anyone could say anything, James's voice echoed up from the common room. "Evans! Evans, get down here!" I looked around at the others; they all looked as puzzled as I felt. I blinked furiously, rubbing my eyes with my knuckles and getting to my feet.

"Lily, wait…!" Dorcas protested.

"Look, I'm just stressed," I assured her, already moving towards the door. "You guys are probably right; I need a fun day… I'll have to tell Sev right after whatever Potter wants." I was telling a slightly altered truth and I could tell all four of them knew it, but before they could protest I slipped out of the dormitory and down the stairs.

"What d'you want, Potter?" I asked, rounding the corner and walking into the common room.

It was empty.

I frowned. "Potter?" I called. There wasn't any response. "Come on, James, what are you…"

"_Happy Birthday!_" a chorus of voices roared, and suddenly the whole of Gryffindor house had jumped up from behind couches and under tables. I swore, shocked by their sudden appearance. James Potter sauntered forwards, smiling.

"James, I…" I started to say, but he grabbed my head and kissed me full on the mouth. I pulled away with an outraged cry and hit him hard upside the head.

"Potter! You have a girlfriend, and _I_ have a _boyfriend!"_ I shrieked, anger and embarrassment rushing through me. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Well,_ I'm _thinking that you're loyal as hell," said James's voice, but the Potter standing in front of me hadn't opened his mouth. I looked past him and saw an identical James Potter standing just behind the one that had kissed me. I looked between them both, and the one that had kissed me winked while the other one laughed.

I moved closer, staring at both of them. Comprehension hit me like a freight train and I groaned. "You've got to be kidding me," I exclaimed, unable to hold back my grin any longer.

"This is a million times better than I thought it was going to be," the second James said eagerly. I laughed along with the other Gryffindors and wrapped my arms around the neck of the first James, kissing him warmly.

"Mmm, happy birthday, Lils," he said, hugging me tight.

"You and I and everyone else know full well my birthday was in January," I muttered. "You of all people forgetting my birthday… I'm ashamed of you, Sev."

"We wanted to do it on your birthday, really we did, but Potter went and botched the Polyjuice so we had to start over, and when that didn't work he ended up nicking some from Slughorn's stores with that cloak of his," Sev explained, speaking in James's voice.

"This is so surreal," I laughed.

"We wanted it to be special," Remus said, and now I realized that he was sitting with the other two Marauders on the back of the couch. "And the only way it'd be really special was if Severus was here."

"Why so special, it's just a birthday!" I exclaimed.

"But it was your seventeenth!" Sev said, as if it weren't obvious. "You only come of age once."

"What about _your_ birthday though, we didn't do anything special for _yours,_" I argued. Sev smirked and put his arm around me, leading me towards a table laden with food.

"That's because I'm not half as important as you are," he said, and before I could argue he held up a slice of cake. _"Eat!"_

I glared at him but took the plate and fork eagerly. By now everyone else had some sort of food and were lounging around the common room, eating. "So, how long will you be a lion then?" I asked.

"He took it just before he came in, before we called you down… and he's got enough for one more mouthful," Remus said, glancing at the clock. "So I'd say he has until seven... of course, the Polyjuice will wear off right at seven, so he'll have to be gone and somewhere out of the way by then."

"Perfect," I said with a grin, scooting closer to Sev. I couldn't help giving him a quick kiss.

"If you had come up to me last year and told me that in a year's time I'd be sitting here watch Evans snog a snake disguised as my best mate, I'd have laughed," Sirius mused. "Then again," he added, his dark eyes flicking away, "I have a feeling this is going to be pretty damn hilarious."

_"LILY!" _a voice shrieked, and I turned away from Sev and fought not to grin. Mary was standing at the foot of the stairs, looking livid.

"'Lo, Macdonald," Sev said calmly.

"C'mere, Mary," James said, patting his lap. Mary looked between the two of them, blinking for a moment, before groaning and stomping over, perching on top of James.

"Honestly, why didn't you make him at least wear a Slytherin scarf or something?" she grumbled.

"You knew?" I cried, pretending to sound outraged. Mary smirked.

"Everyone knew but you, Lily." She rolled her eyes and took a bite of cake.

Too soon, Remus got to his feet. "Come on, Severus, we've got to get you out of here." Sev frowned but got up as well, and I moved with him.

"Here, I'll go with him," I offered.

"You can't miss your own party!" he protested.

"Oh, it's not_ my_ party anymore," I laughed. "They've just jumped on an excuse to eat and be loud. Really, I'd rather go with you." I gave him a rather significant look and he nodded, a smile pulling at his lips.

"Yeah, I'll let Lily be my escort, if that's alright with you, Remus." Remus's eyes were smiling but he nodded.

"Come on then, Evans," Sev said, sounding exactly like James. I smirked and grabbed his hand, and the both of us hurried out of the common room and down the corridor. We ducked into the first empty classroom we found and I watched with a sympathetic grimace as Sev's hair grew longer, his nose grew bigger, and he got taller, until he was the Slytherin I knew. He tapped his tie with his wand so that the red and gold turned to green and silver, and sauntered over to where I sat on a desk.

"So," he asked. "Best birthday ever?"

"Without a doubt," I agreed. "I just wish we'd done something special for yours, is all."

"I don't need something special, you know that. Unless you count."

"Since when are you such a flirt?" I teased. "Maybe some of Potter rubbed off on you." Sev pulled a face and I laughed. He kissed me, cradling my head in his hands, and I pulled him close by the waist until his knees bumped against the desk.

A little while later, Sev pulled away. "Your friends will be wondering where you are," he pointed out. I frowned.

"Speaking of my friends, they seemed rather appalled when I said we were to spend the day studying tomorrow," I said carefully.

"Why would they be _– ohhh." _Sev looked concerned. "Do you want to do something?" I opened my mouth and then closed it again.

"Do you?"

Sev sighed. "To be honest, I've always seen it as just another day. It's never really been important to me. But if it's important to you -"

"Not in the slightest," I said, and after a moment I gave a tiny smile. "Actually, I'm quite sure it's a day they made up purely to sell chocolates and make anyone without a boyfriend miserable." Sev laughed.

"So I assume we'll still be holed up in the library?" he asked. I twisted my lips into a wry smile.

"Maybe not the library. If Pince catches us snogging again she'll boot us out for good."

"Oh, there will be snogging, will there?" Sev asked, raising his eyebrows. I giggled.

"It_ is_ Valentine's Day, after all. Besides, I'm pretty sure Mary would explode if we didn't."

"Since when does Macdonald have such an influence in our relationship?"

"So you don't want to snog? Well then, never-_mmph!_"

By the time I arrived back in the common room, flustered and lightheaded, the party had died down to a bunch of lions lazing around and munching half-heartedly on what little food was left. "You certainly took your time," Alice teased when I dropped back into my chair. I stuck my tongue out at her and beat Sirius to the last pumpkin pasty. Leaning back in my seat, eating and laughing, I realized that - for the first time in ages - I was happy.

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><p><em><strong>AN: I can't not put in a few AVPM references every now and then.**_

_**And originally I planned on this going somewhere else, then I remembered that she'd be turning seventeen and that's kind of a big deal. So yeah. **_

_**Out of curiosity, which do you prefer - having the weeks last, or having them go by quickly? Because the quicker they go, the sooner I can get to where stuff actually happens. Because I'm a dunce who really only has plans after Easter holidays of seventh year. Until then I was just gonna go through in a daze, and make time kinda speed up so that we clip along until next year. I DUNNO, would that be cool with you?**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: First of all, I'm sorry. Muggle school sucks royal Hippogriff.**_

_**Second of all, this is a bit darker than the others. It felt weird to write, I dunno. And the ending is weak beyond weak. This all feels very weird in a good sort of way. So yeah, enjoy? **_

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><p>There was a great fluttering overhead as the owls soared through the windows, shaking off snow and sleet as they went. I didn't pay them any attention – until one landed in front of me. I recognized it as one of the owls they had lurking around the safe house, and eagerly I tore open the envelope and began to read, Alice and Mary both peering over my shoulders.<p>

_Lily – I just thought I would let you know that Alastor is letting us move back into our old house. There will be guards and all manner of protection – you'd understand it better than I can, all I know is that it's magic. So if you want to write, write there. Are you having a good term so far? A good birthday? We'll celebrate as soon as you're home again! Love, mum._

I smiled a little. "Who's Alastor?" Alice asked curiously.

"An Auror," a new voice said. I turned and grinned at Sev, but it quickly faded when I saw his face. It was pale and almost greenish, like he was sick. In one hand he clutched a letter, in the other a _Daily Prophet._ His knuckles were white.

"Sev?" I said warily, getting to my feet and grabbing his wrists. They were trembling. "Sev, what's wrong?"

"Did your mum send you a letter too?" he said hoarsely.

"Yes, why? Sev, for Merlin's sake!" I could tell that more than a few people were turning to look now.

"Well have you seen the Prophet yet?" he pressed. I didn't answer, just seized the paper from his hand and uncrumpled it furiously, my eyes racing over the page. There it was – _Second Attack near Cokeworth; Aurors Re-doubling Security across Country. _

I didn't say anything, or even show any change in my expression. Instead I just sank back to sit on the bench. A war was raging in my mind but the rest of me was totally empty. "Shit, Lily…" Mary breathed.

"There's no saying your mum was involved," Marlene said hopefully from across the table.

"Yeah, Lily, it'll be fine," a girl agreed, a fifth year. Supportive voices were calling out from all down the Gryffindor table, but none of them really reached me. I was shaking violently now, staring at nothing until Sev came into my line of vision, grasping my hands. He was shaking just as bad.

"It… it'll be…" he started to say, and then I snapped back to myself when I saw a single tear rolling down his cheek. I lunged forwards and hugged him tight.

"No, you're _Sev,_ you don't cry," I whispered. "If you cry I lose it."

"Okay," he choked. "But we need to find out…"

"Dumbledore," I decided, and both of us stood up and turned towards the staff table. Professor McGonagall was already hurrying towards us, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Sev wince as my grip on his hands tightened severely. I could feel eyes on us, and absently I wondered when I become such a hot topic – first when dad died, then the birthday party, and now.

"Professor McGonagall," Sev started to say, his voice tight and constricted.

"Evans, your mother and sister are fine," she interrupted, and waves of relief crashed over me. "A few Aurors went ahead to your home just to make sure it was safe and a number of Death Eaters were hiding out there. They've captured one but the others got away; everyone is secure at the safe house."

"Oh, thank Merlin," Sev groaned. After a hesitant moment, he asked, "Professor, does anyone know why they seem to be targeting Lily's family specifically?"

McGonagall pressed her lips together. "We aren't positive."

"But you've got an idea, don't you?" Mary piped up, and for the first time I realized that half the student body was watching with wide, interested eyes. Across the hall, a gaggle of Slytherins were glaring, including Avery.

"Perhaps we should continue this elsewhere," McGonagall said crisply, and many of the eyes flicked away.

"So it's them then, isn't it?" I asked, and my voice turned icy. "It's because of those Slytherins? Professor, how can you keep them around -"

"Miss Evans, this is neither the time nor place," McGonagall snapped, but her eyes were full of compassion. "We can discuss this after class. Now you'd best eat up and hurry along or you'll miss your first class." And with that she was gone, striding back to the staff table.

After a long moment, Sev spoke. "Lily… Lily, your mum's fine. So is Petunia. It's okay."

I took a shuddering breath. "Thank god," I growled, hugging him tight. "I don't know what I would have done…"

"It doesn't matter anymore, don't think about it," he said quietly. "Come on, let's eat now or we _will_ be late."

"Right, because missing _Herbology_ would be a _terrible_ loss," I mumbled, dropping back onto the bench. No matter how hard I pretended to be grumpy, I couldn't help the grin set into my face. In the space of five minutes I had been more terrified than I'd ever been, followed by incredible relief. I felt slightly dizzy.

I stayed in my haze of happiness all day, until I was on my way to my last class – Transfiguration. Just as I went to turn down a corridor, I caught my name and froze. People were talking about me just around the corner.

"… too bad it didn't work this time."

"Still, we got her dad."

"Wait, why're we after _her _family again?" someone asked, and there was the distinct sound of flesh hitting on flesh.

"Because she's a mudblood, you idiot! And besides, she's the one thing Snape treasures most."

I could feel my eyebrows rising. So they were doing all this to get to Sev… _and since when was I the thing he treasured most?_ I scowled at myself and forced myself to listen back into the conversation – already I could tell it was Mulicber and Avery and another boy, whose voice was vaguely familiar.

"Well which one, to get at Snape or to get at the mudblood?" the nameless voice said. He sounded younger than the others.

"Black -"

"No, listen," Black said quickly, and horrible, cold realization hit me – it was Regulus, Sirius's younger brother. "Maybe the mudblood is the most important thing to Snape, but you know what? I'll bet you anything that _he's_ the most important thing to _her,_ too."

There was a long silence, during which I was sure my heart and stomach had dropped right onto the stone floors, to be replaced by boulders of dread. I should move, I should get a teacher… but I stayed rooted where I was, straining to hear. "You think so?" Mulicber said in a low voice.

"I know so. Look, isn't that what they do to Death Eaters who try to leave the cause? Snape's a traitor, no matter how minor his treachery was. We off Snape, so that takes care of him. And it'll break the mudblood's heart and…"

I stopped listening. I had to. I was feeling almost as bad as I had that morning, and I took off back down the corridor. I exploded into Transfiguration nearly twenty minutes late, but I didn't care. Nor did I care when I practically fell on top of Sev in the second row, hugging him tight and dropping kisses across his face. By now tears were streaming down my cheeks.

"Lily, what in the name of Merlin is wrong?" Sev demanded.

"Sev, they… they said they were going…" I choked, but suddenly McGonagall was there.

"Miss Evans," she said briskly, but I interrupted her.

"Professor, you don't understand, I was on my way here and I overheard… they said they were after my family, I heard them, and now they're after…" I couldn't finish, the thought was so terrible. Instead I hugged Sev even tighter.

"They, who is they?" McGonagall asked in the same brisk manner, but now she sounded concerned and fearful.

I swallowed and opened my mouth but the words wouldn't come. Luckily, Sev seemed to have an idea. "I'm guessing it was Mulicber and Avery," he offered, and I nodded.

"Reg – Regulus Black," I added in a hoarse whisper. The room broke into whispers.

"What, my ponce of a brother?" Sirius said loudly from the back of the room. McGonagall straightened up, looking horribly severe.

"Today's class is cancelled. Lily, Severus, follow me… yes, Mr. Black, perhaps you should come along as well." Sirius almost looked afraid when he got to his feet and joined us as we left the room as quickly as possible. Sev and I were walking close together, his grip on my hand nearly rivaling mine. He was, if possible, even paler than usual.

When we reached Dumbledore's office it felt as though a massive weight was taken off my shoulders. He'd know what to do.

"Minerva, what brings you here this afternoon?" Dumbledore asked politely, smiling up at us from a book. His face fell when he saw ours; we all looked considerably shaken.

McGonagall turned to me. "Miss Evans, perhaps it would be easier for you to show us what happened. You look in no fit state to speak." I nodded mutely, gratefully. "I trust you know what a pensive is?" I nodded again.

Dumbledore stood and began bustling about the room, clearing off a space on his desk and putting down a sort of dish. I moved in a kind of trance, letting him extract the memory from my temple and watching both Professors disappear into the swirling white mist in the pensive. The three of us stood there in a heavy silence – Sev still had a death grip on my hand, and Sirius was standing awkwardly off to the side.

"I love you, Sev," I said, my voice trembling. "I don't know what's going to happen but I love you." I looked at him sideways and he nodded once, staring straight ahead. I didn't mind the lack of response; I was used to him completely shutting down and closing off in a stressful situation.

"My brother? My idiotic, mummy's-boy of a brother?" Sirius was saying to himself. "Reg, he's a Death Eater?" He gave me an imploring look and I sighed.

"Not yet. But he's… he called me mudblood -" I didn't think it was possible, but Sev's grip tightened sharply "- and he came up with the idea that they should kill…" I trailed off, biting my lip and feeling my eyes sting again. Sirius stared at the floor blankly.

"Reg," he whispered. Feeling an unnatural surge of sympathy for the boy, I held out my free hand. After a moment's hesitation Sirius took it and I squeezed his hand reassuringly.

A moment later, the Professors reappeared, both their faces grave. McGonagall brushed past us and out of the room without a word, and Dumbledore looked ready to do the same before he noticed us.

"The boys will be expelled. I'm going to notify the Minister; it's likely that they will face a trial for having a hand in the death of Mr. Evans." I nodded mutely, numbly.

"Even…?" Sirius choked, and when I looked over at him I saw his face full of pain. Dumbledore nodded sadly.

"I'm afraid so, Sirius. Now, I believe you three ought to head up to the Hospital Wing; Madame Pomfrey can give you something for shock." He clapped Sirius on the shoulder once, gave Sev a long look and then strode away.

I let out my breath in a shuddering sigh. "They're being expelled," I said. "We won't have to deal with them anymore." Sev gave another curt nod but I noticed relief creeping into his eyes and he began to relax. Sirius, on the other hand, was wound tight; he dropped my hand and balled his own into fists. With a set jaw he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

"Let's go up to the Hospital Wing then," Sev suggested, sounding almost normal. With a little bitter laugh, he added, "Considering the day we've had it'll be a relief to have some kind of anti-stress draught."

I gave a bitter laugh of my own. "Mm, death scares and death threats and a _terribly_ daunting Potions essay… it's a miracle I've made it this far." Sev wrapped an arm around my waist and I mirrored him, and we walked up to the Hospital Wing together.

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><p><em><strong>Well? Hope I didn't disappoint... I swear to Merlin though, I'm trying to update as often as I can! <strong>_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: 'tis short. Sorry, but I figured that I'd post something short rather than nothing at all, eh? And I've decided to really kind of clip along at a faster pace until I get to where I know what's going on. So, yeah.**_

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><p>Eight of us stood on the chilly platform, staring at the scarlet train. "Last one to the compartment buys sweets," Frank said with a grin.<p>

"Which one?"

"Third carriage, first compartment_. GO!"_ At Frank's words we took off, jostling each other to get onto the train first. It was no surprise that James took the lead. We pounded down the train's corridor, jeering at one another and trying to throw the others off. Someone's arms grabbed me from behind and lifted me into the air. I shrieked with laughter as Sev ran with me, shunting aside Mary and ducking into the compartment just after the Marauders. He fell onto the seat with me on his lap, panting and chuckling.

"Argh," Alice growled, the last one to come shuffling into the compartment. She collapsed beside Frank. "I'm buying with Frank's gift money."

"What? Why?" Frank demanded.

"Mary plays football, Lily's boyfriend is nice enough to carry her all the way, and I'm as athletic as a toadstool and yet you leave me in the dust?" Alice raised an eyebrow.

"You play football?" Sev asked.

"I did, last summer. My dad's a bit of a nut about it." Mary grinned.

As the train began to move, the others began to chat, but I turned to look at Sev. He looked almost normal, but there was still a hint of fear in the back of his eyes. I kissed his forehead. He had every reason to be afraid, after all.

"It's okay. They're gone," I breathed, not wanting the others to hear.

"Not all of them," Sev replied. "They still want me dead, I'm a traitor -" I silenced him with a firm kiss.

"Shut up. We'll deal with whatever we have to, whenever we have to. But for now we're fine."

"But -" I silenced him again and this time he smiled slightly. "I'm considering keeping on protesting just so you'll shut me up again."

"Shut up," I said again, and I slid to sit beside him with a grin. We were on our way back for Easter holidays. Avery and Mulicber had been expelled and were to be put on trial before the Wizengamot; Regulus got off with expulsion alone. By this point, Sev and I were the most hated people by all of Slytherin house. I knew what kind of game we were playing, and I knew how easy it could be to lose. But I couldn't back down now, and if I was honest with myself I didn't want to. It was exciting, in a way, no matter how terrifying it could be at the same time.

When we reached King's Cross I practically jumped into mum's arms. Even though I knew she was safe, I still worried. I even hugged Petunia; after a moment she hugged me back awkwardly.

"So where are we going again?" Sev asked.

"To the safe house again," Moody growled, looking around the platform warily. "Wouldn't be practical to return to your old home."

"We've gotten some things from home though," mum said, clearly trying to brighten the mood. "After all, we might be there a while; we need it to feel more… homey." I smiled encouragingly, masking my disappointment. I had been looking forward to going home. The long car ride to the safe house seemed to only consist of listening to Petunia whine about how much she wanted to go home and see her friends again. Bored of the conversation and groggy from the train and the too-warm heater, I found my head lolling sideways onto Sev's shoulder as I drifted off to sleep.

I opened my eyes again and found myself in some kind of garden. Tall hedges boxed us in except for a kissing gate behind me. Flowers and fairy lights were threaded into the branches and I could hear a creek burbling somewhere in the distance. It was night-time, and Severus Snape was standing in front of me. He looked older, somehow, and more handsome than ever. _"Sev, where are we?"_ I breathed, looking around in awe. He stepped forwards and in one smooth movement he held both my hands in his and he was kneeling on the grass before me. My heart stopped beating for a moment. _"…Sev?"_ I asked warily.

_ "Lily Evans, will you marry me?" _

My eyes filled with tears and I broke into a broad grin, but before I could speak there was a flash of green and Sev crumpled onto the ground, his black eyes blank and empty.

A sob tore from my chest and I dropped to my knees beside him, cradling his head in my arms. "Oh my god, oh my god," I moaned; all my senses must be lying, this couldn't be real…

"_Awh, look at the widdle Mudblood crying over her traitor boyfriend…"_ I turned and saw a gaggle of people in black robes and masks. My heart sank, if possible, even deeper – they were Death Eaters. At the head of the group stood Mulciber, Avery, Regulus and a girl I dimly recognized as Bellatrix Black, who was sneering and cackling sadistically. And in front of them all was an alarming man, one with red eyes and a snake-like nose.

"_You knew it was coming, Mudblood,"_ Voldemort hissed. "Avada Kedavra!"

"Lily!" a voice said sharply, and I forced my eyes open. I was back in the car, which was pulled over at the side of a dirt road. Mum and Sev were looking at me with deep concern, Moody looked suspicious, and Petunia looked downright terrified.

"W-what… but he… Sev…" I started to say, and then I burst into tears. Sev put his arms around me.

"Great, she's gone round the bend," Petunia said harshly.

"It was just a bad dream…" Sev murmured, ignoring my sister. He wiped the tears off my face with the back of his hand and I looked up at him pathetically. "What the hell got you that scared? You've been screaming for at least a minute, nearly gave your mum a heart attack. Moody almost killed us all, you should have seen the way he swerved…" A ghost of a smile flitted across his mouth.

I swallowed heavily and told him what I had seen, though I kept quiet about the very beginning – I knew full well Petunia would never let me live it down. Once I had finished Sev hugged me again and mum reached back to touch my knee comfortingly. "Lil, we're fine… no-one is going to murder us…" Sev whispered. I didn't reply, just gave a tiny nod.

"The sooner we're out of the open the better," Moody growled, starting the engine again. We pulled back onto the road and continued driving. After a few minutes the mood relaxed and we began to talk again, but I couldn't entirely smother the feeling of unease in the pit of my stomach.

That night I lay awake, tossing and turning and trying to stop my mind from wandering back to the dream. As long as we were at Hogwarts or at the safe house we were fine. But what about after we graduated? Surely Dumbledore wouldn't just leave us to fend for ourselves… would he?

I scowled at the ceiling and tore the covers off, swinging my legs around the side of the bed and sitting with my head in my hands. After a moment I pushed myself to my feet and stalked out into the hallway. I could see him through the open door of his room, sitting up in bed, reading by the light of his wand. He glanced up at me when I leaned against the doorframe, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Don't tell me you're still upset."

I sighed and walked over, sitting on the end of his bed. "How can I not be upset? They threatened your life – not only that, but their parents are Death Eaters. They want to kill both of us for no reason at all…" I looked at him helplessly. Sev frowned and moved sideways, and I scuttled up to sit against the wall beside him.

"I'm not going to tell you that it's all going to be okay," Sev said quietly, putting his arm around my shoulders. "Because it might not be okay. But I have a feeling it will, and even if we do end up dead, I promise you that we'll end up dead together."

"That's reassuring," I sniffled, smiling despite myself. Sev chuckled.

"It should be! I swear to Merlin, Lily, whatever happens, I'll be right by your side the whole time."

"The whole time?"

"Always," Sev said, nodding. I hugged him close, and after a moment I shifted so that my mouth found his. I didn't let the kiss last long. I was fully aware of the situation and of what mum – hell, what Petunia would say if she were to walk past the open door.

"Can I just… sleep here tonight?" I asked in a tiny voice. Sev smiled.

"Of course. Just try not to thrash around in your dreams again, would you?" He laughed quietly and lay down sideways, holding me in his arms with his chest on my back.

"I was _not _thrashing," I grumbled.

"You most certainly were thrashing. Nearly gave your sister a black eye…" I laughed and rubbed away my tears with the back of my hand. Sev kissed my hair, extinguished the light on his wand and settled into the mattress. "Night, Lily."

"Night, Sev."

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><p><em><strong>Short chapters aren't as fun... sorry again 0_o<strong>_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Guess who still loves you? ME! Heh heh heh...**_

_**I have a few things to say but I'll put it at the end. READ ON!**_

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><p>"Oho, there you are!"<p>

I stopped in my tracks, grimacing at the voice. Sev and I shared a reluctant glance before turning around, fixing falsely bright smiles onto our faces. "Hallo, Professor Slughorn."

"Lovely Lily and the dashing mister Snape, just the couple I was looking for." Slughorn's bushy mustache twitched in a smile. "I was hoping that you would both be attending my next party."

"Next party?" Sev said flatly, and I resisted the urge to elbow him in the ribs.

"Yes, tomorrow evening in my office! You missed my Christmas party, after all. It's a formal event – no robes! – and there will be a number of very important people there as well. Will I be seeing you there?"

The man's hopeful expression was so comical, I barely stifled a laugh. "I'd be happy to, Professor," I said kindly. "We'd be happy to." Sev threw me an indignant look but luckily Slughorn didn't notice.

"Excellent, excellent! I'll see you tomorrow evening at eight pm sharp!" Slughorn beamed at us both and waddled away. As soon as he turned a corner and disappeared from sight, my face fell.

"What an insufferable man," I grumbled.

"Why in the name of Merlin would you tell him we were going?" Sev asked incredulously.

I sighed. "I don't know, he looked so pathetic and hopeful and… I couldn't say no!"

Sev rolled his eyes. "You are far too kind-hearted for your own good, you know that?" he accused, jabbing me with a finger. I smiled up at him.

"Oh come on, Sev, look on the bright side… we don't have to wear our robes!" I said happily. "I finally get a chance to wear -" I stopped short.

Sev's eyes narrowed. "Wear what?"

I grinned. "If I told you it would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?" I said evasively with a tiny wink. Sev pretended to scowl.

"You're evil, you know."

"I know. Now come on, or Binns'll give us detention." And with that we hurried off to class.

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><p>I frowned at the cardigans in my hands. "Marlene, blue or beige?"<p>

"Beige," she said, not even looking up from her magazine. "Make sure it's open enough to see that necklace Snape gave you. Mary, do her hair… make the strands in front sort of corkscrew, but leave the rest as is. Dorcas, somewhere in my trunk is a bag full of make-up…"

"Woah, no thanks," I laughed, ducking away from Mary's hairbrush. I tossed one cardigan onto my bed and pulled the other on quickly. "I don't have the time or the patience to sit through one of your little makeovers. Just… this looks alright?" I looked at my reflection in the mirror; I was wearing a green dress with a low neckline, a beige cardigan and the lily necklace Sev gave me for Christmas.

"Perfect. Now get lost, first it was Alice, and now you're making us all jealous," Dorcas said. I opened my mouth to speak but she waved her hand, cutting me off. "Hey, it's not your fault ol' Sluggy likes you better than us. Go – and make sure you tell us all about the look on Severus's face when he sees you!" I stuck my tongue out at her, took one last look in the mirror and bustled out of the dormitory, hoping to make it out into the corridor without being noticed.

"Wow, Evans!" James said loudly, grinning broadly. He, along with Sirius and Remus, were wearing dress robes; clearly they were invited to the party as well.

"You've got a girlfriend," I reminded him for the umpteenth time, snatching his glasses off his face.

"_You've_ got a boyfriend, and yet you're flirting with me," he said innocently.

"You wish," I growled, throwing the glasses at him as hard as I could. They bounced off his nose and hit the floor, but I slipped out of the common room before he could retort.

Sev was leaning up against the wall, absently making the torch bracket on the opposite wall change colours. He glanced sideways when he saw me and then did a double-take, his eyes widening at the same time as the fire in the torch roared up to the ceiling. His face turned bright red and I smirked while he quickly put the flame out. "You like it then?"

He nodded, his black eyes taking me in almost hungrily. I gave a shy little laugh. "Snape, you're such a pervert."

"I am not," he said defensively, his gaze snapping back to my face. I smiled and took his hand, and the two of us set off to the dungeons at a lazy pace. "Two more months," Sev said offhandedly.

"One and a half," I corrected, "then exams." Sev gave an overly dramatic groan and I echoed it, which led to the two of us imitating one another and getting more and more ridiculous.

"_Urr_gha_hur_ga_hurg_," Sev said loudly, and I giggled. It wasn't until then that I realized we were in the same corridor as Slughorn's office, and that Alice and Frank were watching us with bemused expressions.

"See, Frank, why aren't we that cute?" Alice whined.

Frank chuckled. "I don't do cute, I do masculine and strong."

"You keep telling yourself that, big boy," I said, patting his shoulder. There was nothing particularly masculine or strong about Frank Longbottom at all, what with his round face, his big ears and his distinctly Hufflepuff qualities – why he was a Gryffindor, I had no idea. But there was no mistaking the love in Alice's soft brown eyes when she looked at him, and I couldn't bring myself not to like him.

Slughorn's party was just like all the others had been. Waiters ran round the room serving only the finest food, and the Professor had invited a number of his old colleagues. Almost as soon as we had entered Slughorn swooped down on us, along with a portly man. "Miss Prewett! Lovely to see you here this evening, this is Jeremy Hyde, he's a Healer and a Herbologist at St. Mungo's, I thought you and Mr. Longbottom would like to meet him…"

The night wore on, and until around ten-o-clock the most interesting thing that happened was that a Hufflepuff boy stumbled and very nearly fell into the fireplace. "So," Sev said quietly. "Can we leave now?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm afraid so."

"… quite sure?" I laughed and hit him lightly.

"Ye-" My jaw snapped shut suddenly, my eyes narrowing as they fell on one Sirius Black, doing a very bad job of hiding himself and a fifth-year behind the curtains of a window. "No, this has gone on long enough," I said to myself, and I strode across the room towards him. Sev trailed after me, unsure.

I seized the back of Sirius's robes and pulled him out from behind the curtains. "Oi, Evans, what're you playing at?" he exclaimed.

"What am I playing at? What are you playing at, Black?" I growled. "Sev, do me a favour and find Remus." I saw Sirius's eyes widen slightly, looking almost panicked.

"Evans…"

"Shut up." Sev disappeared into the crowd and I stayed where I was, holding Sirius tight by the collar. The fifth year looked between the two of us, scowled, fixed her robes and scampered away. I glared at Sirius. "I wonder, do you have any idea how much grief you've been giving Remus?"

"What? I – Remus is my best mate, why would I want to give him grief?" Sirius stammered. I gave him a withering look and he swallowed. I smiled joylessly, loving the fact that I could make him act so nervously. "It was a laugh," he said hoarsely, but by then Sev was returning, Remus trailing after him. I saw the prefect's steps falter when he saw us.

"Lily…" he started.

"No, I want this to be over... I hate seeing you so lost and confused," I added, my voice softening somewhat. Remus's eyes were fearful, but he nodded. Sev raised an eyebrow but I shook my head discreetly before frog-marching Sirius out of the room, the other boys following behind. I pushed him into the first classroom I came across, letting the others in and closing the door tight behind me.

There was a long silence. "I believe you have some explaining to do, Black," Sev said icily.

"This is between Remus and -"

"Start talking or I'll hex you," I warned. Sirius looked between the three of us and sighed.

"We were in Diagon Alley last summer, school shopping," he began. "And we had been stupid. Really stupid – I snuck some of mum's best elf-made wine from my place and before we met up with Remus and Peter at the Leaky Cauldron, we might have had a few sips."

"A few sips," Sev said dryly, clearly convinced.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, we downed the whole bottle."

"That sounds more like you," Sev grumbled, but I shushed him.

"So we weren't… we weren't in our right minds, I suppose. We were feeling reckless -"

"What, more reckless than usual?"

"_Shh,_ Sev!"

"Yes, more reckless than usual. And James, James turns into a right prat when he's drunk, apparently, and he dared me to…" Sirius gave Remus an apologetic look. "To mess with Remus's head a little." I set my jaw angrily, making a mental note to slap James later on. "I swear, I never knew… I thought you'd have known I was only having a laugh, I… you're my best mate, Moony." His voice was pained now, and Remus's face was stony.

"You said," he started to say, but his voice constricted and faded away.

"I was drunk, Moony, I was drunk and stupid and… I love you, but I love you as a mate. My best mate, my brother…" Sirius made a move like he was going to put a hand on Remus's shoulder but thought better of it.

There was a long, heavy silence. Sev came to sit on the desk next to mine, taking my hand in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Finally, Remus sighed, leaning back against the wall. "I'm an idiot."

"You are not," three voices chorused, and despite everything we all smiled.

"Maybe not an idiot. Confused, yes, desperate for answers, for sure…" Remus sighed again and gave a weak smile. "But you couldn't have told me earlier? You know, like right after you had sobered up?"

Sirius grinned, clearly relieved. "You know me, I'm a procrastinator! And I never thought…"

"I know." Remus turned to us. "I'm going to head back to the party, I think… thank you, thank both of you." He gave us each a warm smile before slipping back out into the corridor. Sirius looked over at me, gave me a curt nod, and hurried after him. Once he was gone I gave a sigh of my own, resting my head on Sev's shoulder.

"You think he'll be alright?" he asked.

"What, Remus? Maybe someday." I frowned. "He's already got his 'furry little problem', the last thing he needs is all this…"

"Furry little problem," Sev muttered, and I could hear a smile in his voice. "You know, it's probably more accurate to say that it's his, ah, _time of the month._" There was a moment's pause before I burst into giggles.

"Oh Merlin, don't let him hear you call it that!" After a few more moments, I said, "We should really get back."

Sev groaned. "Do we really have to?"

"Well what else would we do to occupy ourselves?" I asked curiously, raising my eyebrows in mock surprise, but I had barely finished my sentence before Sev's mouth found mine.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Okay. Hi. First off the bat, I'm sorry. I'm sorry and sorry and sorry some more. I've been thinking up excuses but they're all rather lame - lack of ideas, school, a sudden onslaught of original ideas... and most of all, like I said, my new obsession with Doctor Who took up a great big chunk of my mind. But now the season is over (creys) and Glee isn't back until November and I've got a few good ideas swirling round my head. I STILL LOVE YOU ALL I SWEAR, I WON'T GIVE UP ON THIS. Fair warning though: submissions have just opened for the school magazine I'll be editing, I have a short story to finish for a contest, one month until NaNoWriMo, PLUS school. I'm going to try and put this at the top of my priorities but you never know. Just know that I'm not giving up and I'm going to keep writing this, even if there is something ridiculous like month-long gaps between chapters. (I'll try to make there not be though, I swear.)<strong>_

_**Um, also, this chapter also felt kind of weird. Not sure why. A bit heavy on the Wolfstar-ish aspect... even though I'm sort of backpedaling on that. Oh, and as you can tell we're really clipping along here; this is what, early May? Yeah, early May. I actually know where I'm going once we get past a year or so, I just have to get there. I've got scenes written out and everything already.**_

_**Hm, do I have anything else to say? I don't think so, really... thanks so much for all the lovely reviews I've gotten over the past what, eleven chapters now? And I'm sorry. Really, truly sorry. **_

_***gets to work on next chapter***_


	13. Chapter 13

The days began to pass by quicker and quicker, and before I knew it I was asking Dorcas to sit on my trunk so I could get it to close. "So glad my chub could be of assistance," she said brightly, bouncing on the lid.

I clicked the trunk shut. "You don't have _chub_," I argued, frowning. Her only response was to poke her stomach with an affectionate little smile. I laughed.

"This place always looks so sad at the end of the year," Mary grumbled, looking around the dormitory. I had to agree – with everything packed into our trunks, with our beds pristine and our wardrobes empty, the room looked lonely.

Alice sighed. "Let's not mope around… we've got a feast to go to!" There was a general mutter of agreement and I took one last look at the room before following the others out. I tried my best to savour everything on the way down to the Great hall – _but you'll be back next year. And anyway, it'll be nice to sleep in your own bed again…_

The end-of-year feast was as good as ever – we had come in second to the Ravenclaws for the house cup and the food was delicious. The only downside was that Sev never showed. Marlene assured me that he had probably just overslept and that he would meet us on the train. I nodded, still frowning slightly, and tried to enjoy the last Hogwarts meal of my sixth year.

We found a compartment near the back of the train. Within five minutes Sirius was changing the colour of Peter's hair without him noticing, Remus half-watching with a smirk and half-reading. James, it seemed, had nicked another Snitch from the Gryffindor Quidditch team and was letting it fly round the compartment, snatching it out of the air over and over. Mary watched with wide, interested eyes, occasionally reaching out to try and grab it herself and then giggling when James beat her to it. Alice and Frank looked completely love-struck, having a quiet conversation with faint smiles. And I sat on the seat, fiddling with my necklace, wondering where the hell Sev could be.

After nearly half an hour Alice gave me a sideways glance. "You're going to go hunting all over this train for him, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yep." I got to my feet and pulled the compartment door open, only to discover Sev standing at the other side. "There you are, where've you been?" I asked, and he toppled forwards into my arms, his back soaked in blood.

I screamed. Instantly everyone was on their feet, helping me carry him and lie him on one of the seats. Sev moaned and mumbled something. I bit my lip, my eyes swimming with tears, and brushed his hair off his face, which was screwed up in pain. "What happened?" Remus demanded.

Sev squeezed his eyes shut tighter. "Yaxley. Yaxley and Dolohov… used my spell, my _Sectumsempra_…"

To my surprise, both James and Sirius swore, loud and angry. "Do those snakes really think they can get away with that?" James growled.

"You might not be my friend, Snape," Sirius said, gritting his teeth, "but you're Lily's boyfriend and because of that_, no-one_ messes with you." And with that, both boys had left the compartment.

I looked around at the others desperately, clinging to Sev's hand. "Mary! Mary, you're good at healing charms, right?" I asked. She nodded mutely. "Do something, please, help him," I begged.

She nodded again. "He'll… Alice, help me take his shirt off or push it up or… Lily, where are you going?"

I gave her a joyless smile. "Sirius was right. _No-one_ messes with my boyfriend – and gets away with it." Before anyone could protest I was running after the boys, furious, gripping my wand with white knuckles.

"What're you doing here?" James exclaimed as soon as I had leveled with them.

"Well, I have every intention to hex Dolohov's overlarge ears right off his head," I snarled, and Sirius laughed.

The seventh-years were standing in the last compartment, which was empty except for the two of them. They looked up when we came in. "Look at that, ickle Gryffindorks!" Yaxley croaked, and Dolohov gave a wheezy laugh.

"What did you think you were playing at, hurting Snape?" James challenged. "Did you really think we'd just shrug it off?"

"No, but we did think it would lure his little Mudblood right to us, and we were right!" Dolohov said gleefully. He flicked his wand and a slash of white-hot pain grazed my cheek.

"Oi! Don't you_ dare_ lay a wand on Evans!" Sirius roared, firing a curse at the Slytherin. Suddenly, the four boys were locked in an intense duel. I jumped in as well, ignoring the stinging pain making my eyes water or the feeling of hot, sticky blood on my jaw. The three of us made an even match to the two older students, but the duel became more and more violent and suddenly James was thrown against the wall and slumped to the ground.

"James!" I cried, dropping to my knees beside him. He was out cold.

"_Prongs!"_ Sirius bellowed, casting one last hex before kneeling beside me. Instantly I felt my body seize up and I fell sideways, petrified. I noticed Sirius blasted away and petrified before I hit the ground, my face buried in the plush carpet.

One of them kicked me, rolling me over with his foot to face them. I glared as best as I could, but I knew that along with anger my eyes were fearful. Terrified, even. Yaxley chuckled darkly. "What shall we do with you, filthy Mudblood?"

"Give her another gash," Dolohov said eagerly, and with another slash of agony I felt my blood bloom over my shoulder. Now there was nothing but fear rushing through me.

"We could take her back to the Dark Lord," Yaxley muttered, his eyes alight with malice. "Hang her head above the fire or something. _Snape's Mudblood…"_

Suddenly, Yaxley was blasted across the room. "_DON'T_," Sev roared, sending Dolohov flying after him, "_CALL HER MUDBLOOD!_"

His face was pale and sunken-looking, his breath was ragged and sounded painful, but I could tell that I was his only concern. He fell beside me, taking off the body-bind hex and gathering me into his arms. Tears were pouring down his cheeks. "Sev, Sev, it's okay…"

"It's _not_ okay!" he exploded, but Alice, Mary, Remus, Frank and Peter came running in at that moment. Alice gasped sharply and Mary dropped beside James with a wail.

"P-Peter, go get someone, a Professor, the conductor, anybody," Remus ordered, his face as white as chalk. The round boy nodded and hurried away. The others set to work taking the hex off Sirius and reviving James, but Sev stayed where he was, holding me tight, sobbing silently.

"Sev," I said quietly, hating to see him so upset. "Sev, look, I'm fine, you're fine, they're going to end up in Azkaban or something…"

"Maybe they will, but what about the others?" he choked. "I've made myself a _very _powerful enemy, Lily, and now they're your enemy too."

"I don't care."

"You could die, because of me."

"I don't care."

"But I do! Do you have any idea how much it would kill me to see you lying dead on the floor, to have to live a single day without you? You're the most important thing in the world to me, and if anything happened to you I wouldn't have a reason to live any longer." Sev buried his face in my hair and clutched me tighter. I hugged him back as best as I could, though my shoulder was aching.

"Oh god, Sev, I never thought…"

"What's going on in here?" I looked up. Peter had returned with a wizard who I recognized as the train's conductor. He was taking in the scene with wide eyes.

I swallowed. "Those two boys over there, Yaxley and Dolohov -"

"What boys?" the conductor asked. A ball of dread dropped into my stomach and we all turned at once, slowly, not wanting to believe what we were seeing.

They were gone.

"That's impossible!" Sev exclaimed. "They should be knocked out and lying right there…"

"Maybe one wasn't quite out of it and managed to Apparate away with the other?" Frank said, his voice hoarse.

"I'm going to need some answers here!" the conductor said loudly, and with a sigh I began to speak.

* * *

><p>I didn't really expect mum to do anything less than scream, burst into tears and hug me tight as soon as I stepped onto the platform. "Lily, sweetheart, what on earth happened?" she cried, brushing a finger against the long pink scar on my cheek. I winced; it was still sore.<p>

"I'll explain later," I said tiredly. "But it's healing as we speak and soon there won't be any mark at all. Sev's worse off than I am."

"I am not," Sev argued, despite his stiff gait. His entire back had been slashed; it was practically a miracle that Mary had managed to fix it enough to last until the train's Healer had seen to it.

"Mrs. Evans, I presume." The conductor came striding towards us, his face grave. He took mum aside and I knew he was explaining what had happened. Moody, who was giving us both an almost approving look, grunted.

"It probably wasn't wise, boy, making enemies with Death Eaters," he said gruffly.

"Tell me about it," Sev grumbled, and then looked sharply at the Auror. "Wait, how…?" He touched his head and gave a little incredulous smile. "You know Occlumency.?"

Moody smiled thinly. "I do, and let me tell you it's a useful skill." With another grunt he bent slightly so he was eye-level with Sev, clapping a hand lightly on the Slytherin's shoulder. "And let me tell you something else, Severus, don't you think for a second that you're alone in all this. Don't think that you aren't going to be under the best protection anyone can offer until this is all over." His voice softened. "You, and Lily. We're going to do everything we can to make sure no-one hurts either of you." A tiny smile flickered across his face. "And for Merlin's sake, boy, I hope you know that Violet won't appreciate…" He leaned forwards and spoke the rest of his sentence into Sev's ear so I couldn't hear, but his face turned crimson. I bit my lip to keep from smiling; I had a good idea of what mum wouldn't appreciate him thinking about.

"Let's get out of here," mum said in a fierce whisper as soon as she had returned. She bustled us all out of King's Cross before I had a chance to find any of my friends and wish them a proper goodbye.

I didn't get a moment alone until after dinner. Until then I had been retelling the story of the duel over and over and having my scars inspected by every Auror in the safe house, never mind dinner itself or watching mum stalk around the house, swearing on her life that she was going to _'make the boys who hurt my daughter pay, damn it!'_. At long last I found myself in my room, away from everyone else. I left my trunk where it was – I had no intention to unpack at that moment – and fell onto my bed facedown with a sigh of relief.

And, without warning, I broke into great, heaving sobs. I drew my knees to my chest, curling up as tight as I could, and let big fat tears splash onto the bedspread, gasping and shaking. It wasn't very long before Sev found me, as I knew he would, and sat down beside me, rubbing my back and waiting for me to calm down.

"Why us?" I choked. "Why do we have to deal with this, why is he doing this?"

"I don't know, Lils."

"It's not fair, we didn't do anything wrong!"

"I know." Sev lay down beside me, holding me so my back was against his front, and rested his head at the back of my neck. "I love you."

"I love you too." I sniffed and rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand. "I just want it all to be over, you know?"

"So do I. And it will end, some day, but until then… the best we can do is keep our chins up, I suppose." Sev pulled me closer, leaning forwards and kissing my jaw. I turned my head and kissed him on the lips.

I rolled over after a minute, propping myself up on my elbows, and Sev sat up with me. He smirked sadly and gingerly touched the scar on my cheek. I watched as his smirk dissolved and his face crumpled, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut. A tear leaked from the corner of his eye and I hugged him close. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"We've been over this, both of us have. You said it yourself; we're going to get through this. I will never blame you for this, _never._"

Sev chuckled darkly, leaning back. "I feel like we've had this conversation before."

"We're always having this conversation." I rolled my eyes. "I wish we wouldn't, it just dampens the mood on everything. It's summer, Sev, we've got two glorious months stretched in front of us to do whatever we want!"

His face brightened. "We're seventeen, aren't we?"

"Excellent deduction, Watson."

"We can do magic now."

"Yes."

"We can Apparate now."

"Not yet we can't, we didn't even take the course last year." I frowned. "Maybe Moody can teach us?"

Sev grinned. "I'd sooner have him teach me Occlumency."

My sad, fearful mood fading fast, I giggled and poked his chest. "Speaking of which, what _exactly_ mightn't mum like you thinking about?" I raised an eyebrow and smiled playfully.

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know," Sev said, a teasing glint in his eye. I seized the back of his head, pulling him close, but at that moment the bedroom door banged open and we leapt apart.

Petunia sneered at us both. "You're disgusting."

"You're jealous," Sev said simply, and I stifled a laugh as Petunia turned a deep, angry red.

"That man is downstairs," she spat. "The one with the beard and the absurd purple robes."

I shared a confused look with Sev. "Professor Dumbledore?" I said, but when I turned back Petunia was gone. I huffed and scrambled to my feet. "What would Dumbledore be doing here?"

"He is the head of the Order, isn't he?" Sev shrugged, following me out of the room and down the stairs. "Maybe they're having some kind of meeting."

I made a little noncommittal sound and skipped the last step, poking my head into the living room. Sure enough, Professor Dumbledore was sitting on the sofa, talking to mum, Moody and a handful of other orders. I gave Sev another look, this one slightly alarmed – seeing the Headmaster on a chesterfield sipping tea and eating some leftover biscuits from dinner was the last thing I'd expected to see.

He looked around at our footsteps and beamed. "Oh, Miss Evans! And Mr. Snape! Come, come sit." He patted the couch beside him and we went over warily, sitting on the carpet rather than the couch. Dumbledore smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I heard about the incident on the Hogwarts Express, I'm afraid."

I bit back an exasperated groan. I had no desire to recount the episode yet again. As though he had read my mind, Dumbledore chuckled. "Don't worry, I already know everything. The boys Disapparate, I assume?"

"We suppose so," Sev said after a moment. "No-one thought to keep an eye on them, as far as we were concerned I had knocked them right out."

"Hmm," Dumbledore said, tenting his fingers and staring at us both. I shifted uncomfortably; his blue eyes gave me the feeling that I was being X-rayed and I didn't like it one bit. "Right. Well, I have a few more things to discuss with your lovely mother and the Aurors here. I hope you know – both of you – that what Alastor said at King's Cross is true. Neither of you should think that you're alone in all this, you're under the best protection I'm able to offer. And that -" Dumbledore chuckled "- is probably the best you can get, if I do say so myself.

Now, run along, I daresay I've interrupted a – er, _conversation_ – between you two." Dumbledore's eyes sparkled knowingly and I ducked my head as I got up, trying to hide the pink tinge to my cheeks. We hurried up to the first landing of the three-story house, where we paused.

"What d'you figure they're 'discussing?'" Sev said curiously.

"Maybe he's trying to have us move back home," I mused, listening hard. I couldn't hear a thing from the room – obviously, they didn't want to be heard. I frowned for a moment before turning back to Sev with a little grin.

"Come on, let's continue our… _conversation._"

* * *

><p><em><strong>I think I meant to say something intelligent here when I was going to post this last night, but now I've forgotten... <strong>_

_**But yeah. They're back at the safe house, which I picture as a three-story, rickety-ish building at the top of a hill in the middle of nowhere, England, surrounded by fields of golden wheat or something. I'm bad at describing things when I've just woken up.**_

_**_**Writing duels is always fun. So if you want more duels then by all means, ask me. I do so love writing duels and fights and the like...**_**_

_**Right, Muggle school. Got to go. Okay, so, was this good? Abysmal? What did you think? I'd really appreciate a review or two just letting me know if this is good in the slightest...**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: Who has two thumbs and Microsoft Word? THIS GIRL! It took longer than I expected but I downloaded it today, wrote furiously and now here you have it at long-last: THE SUPERMEGAFOXYAWESOMEHOT SUMMER OF SNILY! This chapter is like nineteen pages long on Word and spans the entire summer as an apology for being so derpy about updates. Dementors, a pyromaniac Auror based on one of my real-world best friends, forgery and ferris wheels await! So, without further ado, here you go!**_

_**EDIT: Sorry about the deleting/re-uploading business, I had the feeling it wasn't posted properly and I wanted to be sure.**_

* * *

><p>Moody frowned at us. "Come on, you're both more than capable! Remember the three D's!"<p>

"They've been at it for nearly two hours and it's positively _sweltering_," mum pointed out from the back porch. "Give them a break, Alastor." I looked hopefully at the grizzled Auror, who nodded curtly.

"Fine, take a break then." Sev gave a relieved grin and we joined mum at the table, eagerly drinking the lemonade she offered. A week into the summer holidays, Moody had agreed to teach us Apparation after much begging and wheedling. In the end it was one of the Aurors who persuaded him – Kate, a spunky girl who couldn't have been very much older than I was and who had a particular proclivity for pyrotechnics.

"Go on, Mad-Eye, it'll be _fun_," she said lazily, lighting a scrap of parchment aflame with a smirk. "These kiddos are going to be cooped up in this crapshack 'til September, you might as well give them a way out… go see their friends or something."

So we had begun training – the only problem was, Moody wasn't exactly an ideal teacher, barking at us and keeping us out in the hot summer sun far longer than we would have liked. With the back of the house simply opening out onto a vast, open field, there was no shade at all.

As soon as we were finished our drinks, Moody had ushered us back out onto the lawn. "Just a few more minutes," he said, "can't afford to have the protective enchantments down for too long…"

And at that moment, three sharp cracks ripped through the air and just as many cloaked, masked figures surrounded us. Fear shot through me – Death Eaters? – and I seized Sev's hand. Without thinking about it, I turned on the spot. An unpleasant feeling – almost as though I was being pulled through a very tight tube – I opened my eyes and realized that I was standing in my bedroom.

"Wait, what?" Sev said stupidly, looking around. He looked back to me a second later, his black eyes wide with fear. "Your mum, Moody…" he started to say, but I was already running to the window.

"For Merlin's sake," I snarled after a moment. Sev joined me and swore when he saw the black-cloaked people remove their hoods, grinning and laughing. I instantly recognized them as Kate and two other Aurors. Moody was looking up at us, smirking triumphantly.

"That's one way to show us how to Apparate, I guess," Sev grumbled. I turned and beamed at him.

"Hey, I Apparated, didn't I?" I said excitedly.

"Yeah…" Sev held out his arm. "Now come on, let's see if I can get us back down, eh?" I grinned and took it, and after a moment's hesitation Sev Disapparated, pulling me with him.

This time, I stumbled and fell on the grass when I landed, feeling dizzy. It certainly wasn't my favourite means of transportation, even if it was the fastest. Moody chuckled. "You see, Determination is the most important."

"You could have just told us that rather than scaring us out of our wits," Sev pointed out, holding out a hand. I took it and pulled myself back to my feet.

"Well yeah, he could have," Kate said, rolling her eyes, "but this way was much more interesting."

"Right. Well, technically you're supposed to have to go through this whole test at the Ministry," Moody said with a slight sneer, "but frankly I don't want you to have to bother, nor do I necessarily want to take you all the way into London to do so. So, I've taken the liberty of doing _this._" With a flourish, Moody waved his wand and two envelopes came zooming out of the house. He gave us each one and grinned. I tore mine open eagerly; it was an Apparation certificate in my name.

"You forged us licenses?" Sev asked incredulously, beaming.

"Didn't forge it," Moody said, as though the mere idea of it was insulting. After a moment, he gave us a sly smile. "I just nicked two licenses from a Ministry bloke and changed the names."

_"Wicked."_

"Agh, Mad-Eye, I wish you'd have done that for me," Kate said with a scowl. "I had to do my test three times, you know. The first time I just lost a bit of hair but the second…" she grimaced and held up her left hand. "Three fingers, gone. It was awful, thank Merlin the Healers were able to fix me up again…"

I grimaced.

"Hey, I've got an idea," mum said suddenly, joining us on the lawn and shielding her eyes from the sun. "I hurried us out of the station rather quickly last week, so neither of you had a chance to say goodbye to your friends… well, what if you were to invite them over?"

Moody was looking at mum as though she had just turned purple and sprouted wings. "Are you mad, Violet? This is a _safe house_, for Merlin's sake, the more people that know about it, the less protected we are!"

"Do you really think they're going to go blabbing to Death Eaters about us?" Kate said, cocking an eyebrow. "They're Gryffindors, it's not like they're going to sell out their friends. Oh!" Suddenly, her eyes were shining. "We could have a _bonfire_!"

"I swear on my life they wouldn't say a thing," I promised, looking hopefully at Moody. "We can swear them to secrecy or something…"

"Don't be such a party-pooper, Al," Kate teased, and Moody glared.

"Fine, your friends can come over – as long as none of you call me Al ever again," he growled. Sev and I shared broad grins.

"Is the fireplace connected to the Floo network?" Sev asked eagerly. Moody nodded once, already looking reluctant that he had agreed. Before he could change his mind, Sev grabbed my hand and we ran back into the house, into the living room with the great big fireplace.

Within ten minutes we had the whole group notified, and all were set to come over later that evening. Moody was going to go round and Apparate them all to the safe house one at a time, and they had all sworn to keep the location a secret. As soon as we had finished dinner Sev and I looked expectantly at Moody, who huffed.

"You'd better have a damn good time, for all the trouble this is causing," he grumbled, and Disapparated.

* * *

><p><em>"And Odo the Hero, they bore him back home, to the place he had known as a lad! And they laid him to rest with his hat inside out…"<em>

We all looked expectantly to the boy beside me, half of whose face was cast into shadow by the roaring bonfire. "You aren't going to make me sing, are you?"

"Yes."

"Lily…"

"Go on, Snape," James prompted, leaning forwards and grinning. I smiled encouragingly at Sev, who hesitated a moment before sighing.

"_And his wand, snapped in two, which was sad_," he sang in his low baritone, rolling his eyes when Alice squeaked and clapped her hands.

"Oh, he can sing too! I hope you know how lucky you are, Evans."

Frank pretended to look insulted. "You're lucky yourself, Prewett," he exclaimed, looking at the girl on his lap.

"Very lucky," Mary agreed. "Big teddy bear like you, who wouldn't want that?"

"Oi!" James cried, and Sirius roared with laughter. I could feel my face aching from a grin that had been there all evening. I felt a rush of affection towards every one of my friends – even to Peter, who was getting increasingly disgruntled as he burned one marshmallow after another. With a sigh, Remus took the stick from his hands and showed him how to do it properly.

The bonfire – of course – had been Kate's idea. We were sitting out in the very back corner of the yard. The lights from the house fell just short of the log-benches we had conjured up, and behind Remus and Peter the dark field was full of the sounds of crickets chirping. The stars were bright – brighter than I had ever seen them back home, and every now and again Sev would point out a constellation to me.

"Here, Black, this one will interest you," he said, pointing up into the night sky. "See that one there, the brightest one? Know what it's called?"

"Cheesecake?"

"Cheese… who in their right mind would name a star _cheesecake?_"

"I would. Hell, they'd all be named after food, there'd be Cheesecake and Pudding and Roast Beef and Treacle Tart and -"

"Right," Sev interrupted, sneering slightly. "Well, that one happens to be called Sirius."

Sirius beamed. "Oh yeah? A bunch of us are named after stars… which one is Regulus?" His grin faltered when he saw Sev grimace, and I frowned. I didn't want any bad memories interrupting such a fun night. Regaining his composure, Sev gestured to another star.

Peter yelped suddenly, a high-pitched sound that made us all jump and whip around to stare at him. He looked back, his eyes wide, and muttered, "Sorry…"

I looked questioningly to Remus, who rolled his eyes. "He went and burned the last marshmallow. So much for s'mores."

Sirius groaned dramatically. "Well if there's no more food, I'm afraid I'll be off."

"Pig," Mary snorted, and Sirius winked.

I looked back up at the house and huffed. "It looks like Moody is asleep," I said apologetically. "And no-one else will Apparate you home for fear of him skinning them come morning… we have some spare rooms on the top floor, if you like?"

"Were you planning this sleepover, Evans?" Sirius accused, and I smiled slightly.

"Well I didn't doubt he'd fall asleep…"

Remus stood, stretching. "Either way, I'm exhausted and my eyelids feel like they're burned to the crisp. That Kate girl might have overdone the bonfire a bit."

There was a ripple of laughter and the others began to stand and stretch as well. With a flick of my wand I had put the fire out, and we trooped back up to the silent house. I took a glance at the grandfather clock as we passed; already it was half past eleven and everyone was bound to be asleep. We made our way to the third floor, where one side of the hall held my room and Petunia's, and the other held Sev's and a washroom.

"Here, we'll crash in Snape's room," James said cheerfully, throwing an arm around a startled Sev. "You lovely ladies can sleep in Lily's; you can stay up all night painting your toes and talking about how Mary doesn't deserve someone as sexy as me – owch!"

Mary picked her foot up from where she had stomped on her boyfriend's, but pecked him on the lips nevertheless. "Night, Potter."

"MacDonald," he said with a goofy grin.

I rose up on my toes and kissed Sev gently. "Love you," I reminded him quietly, smiling. Sev smiled back and kissed my forehead before letting me go, and Alice, Mary and I stepped into my bedroom and closed the door.

Even after we had changed into our pajamas and conjured up beds for the others, none of us were feeling remotely tired. I gathered my knees to my chest, leaning against the headboard of my bed, while Mary sat cross-legged at the end and Alice lay facing us on her cot. They were both smiling in an excited sort of way, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Mary," Alice said suddenly, "truth or dare." I grinned; we had played this game many times in the Gryffindor dormitory, and the dares had ranged everything from eating a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean to sneaking down to a certain classroom and bringing us back some proof that they had been there. Once we had dared Dorcas to sneak down to the kitchens – she had gotten three weeks detention by the time she had reached the end of the corridor and never let us forget it.

"Truth, truth, always truth," Mary said, flapping her hand. "I'm far too lazy to do a dare."

"That's no fun at all," Alice grumbled, thinking. "Oh!" She propped herself up on her elbow, grinning wickedly. "So, how far have you and Potter gone then?"

Mary made an outraged sound, though her eyes were bright with mirth. "That's a bit intrusive, isn't it?"

As a reply, Alice seized my wand from the bedside table, charming the door so that anyone outside the room would hear nothing but silence. We both looked expectantly at Mary, who smiled deviously.

"You didn't…?" Alice asked, her eyes wide. Mary blushed and shook her head furiously.

"No no no. Well, almost?"

"Almost?"

"We're well-acquainted in other ways," Mary said lightly, and before I could fully register why Alice had squawked so loudly she said, "Lily, truth or dare!"

"Truth," I said automatically, smirking. Mary thought for a moment.

"Same question."

"No, that shouldn't be allowed, you can't ask her the same question," Alice said, shaking her head, and I shot her a half-releived glance. "Here, Lily, you and Sev... what's the deal with you two?" My expression turned confused, so she explained, "I mean, you've known each other how long?"

"Oh," I said. "Well, I was nine, we were both nine. So eight years now." I could already tell that she was going to press me for more information, so I continued. "You know the story, he was the one who told me I was a witch in the first place. He lived maybe ten, twenty minutes from where I did, so we saw each other all the time. And before you ask, I figure I started to fancy him just before fifth year."

Both Mary and Alice's eyes were bright with interest. "Oh? Do tell," Mary prompted.

I rolled my eyes but couldn't keep a tiny little smile off my face. "It happened when we were in Diagon Alley, school shopping. Uhm, we were in The Leaky Cauldron, mum and dad were getting lunch and we were at a table, and we were talking. And Emmaline Vance walks by - you know her, she's a year below us - and she says, quite loudly, _'Lily, you aren't dating that snake, are you_?'" I said in a bad intimidation of Emmaline, and both other girls laughed. "Anyway, we were both spluttering and blushing like mad, of course, and Emmaline flounces off looking quite pleased with herself. And I look over at him, and it... it was weird, you know, but suddenly I wondered, would it really be so bad if we _were _dating? And then mum and dad came back, so I didn't have much time to really dwell on it until that evening... I stayed up half the bloody night thinking about it, and in the end I realized that no, it wouldn't be a bad thing at all. All over the next year I began to notice little things about him, little things that made my heart flutter and made a little smile appear on my face... and then, when we were by the lake and Potter was bullying him and he called me a you-know-what." I frowned slightly. "My god, how that hurt. I didn't really care about the insult itself, but it meant that I had lost him for good. And by that point he wasn't just my best friend anymore, by that time I was dangerously close to being in love with him. You can imagine how wonderful it was when he turned up in the summer, even if he was broken and bloodied..." I grimaced at the memory.

"Very romantic, especially because you've known each other so long," Alice decided, nodding. "You're adorable together, you know that?"

I smiled, flattered. "Thanks... so, how did you and Frank meet again?"

"Oh, well, we were actually at one of Slughorn's parties in fourth year - the first one I ever went to, remember?" Alice's face was shining as she spoke. "Slughorn wanted to have me there for Herbology, I suppose, and he introduced me to Frank, who was also there because he was so brilliant at the subject. I mean, we'd seen each other round the common room and everything, but it was the first time we'd actually talked, one on one, and by the end of the evening he had asked me on a date into Hogsmeade and I was already mad for him," Alice finished with a little giggle.

"You already know how James and I met..." Mary started, but suddenly she froze, her head whipping around to the closed door. Alice and I shared a puzzled glance but looked back just in time to see Mary sieze her wand from where it sat on top of her rucksack, roar, "POTTER!" and blast the door open. James and Sirius, who had obviously been leaning against it, tumbled forwards onto the carpet.

"How the hell...?" I exclaimed.

"I know how to break silencing charms," Sirius grumbled, scrambling to his feet.

I looked worridly at Mary, who was gripping her wand so tightly I feared it would snap. Sparks flew from the end and I could tell she was furious. "Get the hell out of here, Black," she growled, in a voice so low and dangerous that I wasn't surprised when Sirius stumbled backwards and, with one sidelong glance at James, skittered away. James hurried after him, but not before Mary had sent a Stinging Jinx after him. With another slash of her wand, the door shut tight.

There was a moment of heavy silence. "Bloody hell, Mary, I thought you loved him," Alice croaked.

"Oh, I do," Mary said with a small smile. "But I'm training him. Making him less of an obnoxious prat, y'know?"

I laughed. "Merlin, if this is how you repremaind your boyfriend I'm terrified for your kids!" Mary giggled, and Alice sniggered, and soon all three of us were laughing.

"RAWR!" a new voice yelled, and the door flew open again. Kate, dressed in fleecy pajama bottoms and an oversized t-shirt, came sprinting into the room and dove onto my bed, knocking Mary clear onto the floor and forcing me to crawl backwards as fast as I could. She cackled into the mattress.

Alice poked her side, making the Auror squeak and jump. "Lily, there's a UFW on your bed." Alice looked up at me, smirking slightly. "An Unidentified Flying Witch."

"I'm not unidentified, I'm Kate!" Kate chirruped, sitting up. "So what are we doing?"

"Having a pillow fight," Mary said calmly. I took a moment before registering what she had said and turned towards her, and her pillow hit me square in the face. Kate broke into a broad grin, siezed the pillow from Mary's hands and hit her over the head with it, hard, sending her tumbling back onto the ground. Mary, blowing her hair out of her eyes, raised her wand.

"Damn it!" I yelped, but it was too late; the blankets were already tangling themselves around Kate and I, rising and dumping us both onto Alice, whose cot crumpled under our combined weight. Alice shrieked with laughter from somewhere under me.

"Oi!" I sat up at the gruff bark, and blushed deeply when I saw Moody standing in the door, scowling. "Some of us are trying to sleep, the last thing we need is to hear a gaggle of teenage girls giggling brainlessly... yes, Webster, that goes for you too!" Moody glared at each of us in turn before grunting, "Get to sleep, all of you."

"Yes, sir," Alice mumbled, and we hurried to straighten up the room, conjure a third cot for Kate, and get into bed. Moody turned off the lights and stumped away, grumbling to himself.

We lay in the dark for a moment. "M'not brainless," Mary said stubbornly into her pillow from somewhere on my left.

"Mary," Alice said kindly, "you're dating Potter, you've got to be a little bit brain-damaged..."

"Shut your face," Mary retorted, and Kate snickered.

* * *

><p>"Sev!" I exclaimed, pounding on his bedroom door.<p>

"It's open," he called lazily, and I burst into the room. He was lounging on his bed, reading, but he looked up and smiled, closing his book.

"I've had an idea," I announced, flouncing over to sit beside him.

"Have you?"

"I have. You remember how you were whining about us never going on a real date, because we were always at Hogsmeade with everyone else and you wanted it to be just me and you?" I asked.

"I don't whine," Sev said with a frown. I laughed and hit his arm lightly.

"Of course you don't. Anyway, I was reading mum's paper and the town nearest here is having a summer carnival." My face was shining with excitement now. "And in Muggle stories you always see them on dates at a fair; it's supposed to be very romantic."

Sev was still frowning. "A Muggle fair? One of those things with rickety contraptions you call rides and deep-fried-everything?"

"Yes! Mum's already going out that way tonight; she's doing the grocery shopping or something. But I thought, maybe, we could…" I trailed off, smiling hopefully. Just as I knew he would, Sev sighed.

"Fine, if it's a fair you want it's a fair you'll get," he said. I squealed happily and hugged him.

"You're the best," I said, placing a light kiss on his cheek. "Now come on, mum wants us downstairs in ten minutes."

"Were you planning this all along?" I didn't answer, just smirked and flounced back to my bedroom. As quickly as possible, I dug through my wardrobe and changed into an outfit nicer than the t-shirt and track pants I had been wearing. Frowning slightly at my reflection in the mirror, I pulled a brush through my hair. While trying to decide whether or not to hunt down the pityful amount of makeup I owned, I caught Sev's reflection smiling at me, leaning up against the doorframe.

"You don't need to dress up or anything," he said, walking over. "You're already beautiful."

"But it's our first date... our first real date, in any case, and I want it to be special."

Sev chuckled. "The fact that someone like me is going on a date with someone like you, that alone makes it beyond special."

I smiled shyly and gave him a quick peck. "Mum's probably waiting on us, let's go."

It had taken a great deal of persuasion before Moody let any of us set foot out of the safe house's enchantments. Reports of Death Eater sightings and attacks had dwindled to nearly nothing over July, but he insisted that we keep our wands on us at all times and that at least one Auror should accompiany us everywhere. Kate, who was almost becoming a surrogate older sister to me now that Petunia spent almost all her time locked up in her room, had eagerly agreed to keep an eye on us at the fair.

"This should be fun," she said brightly from the front seat of the car. "I've only ever been to a fair once, summer after my first year. Rode the tilt-a-whirl so many times, I blew chunks all over the place."

"Charming," mum said, wrinkling her nose, and we laughed.

It was almost a releif to see the crowds of Muggles at the fair after being cooped up in a safe house in the middle of nowhere. I clambered out of the car, breathing in the scent of popcorn and grease with a grin. Sev stood next to me, looking not at all impressed. "Come on, don't be such a party pooper, this is going to be fun," I enthused, poking his chest.

"Your mum'll pick us up at ten," Kate said, looking as excited as I felt. "I'll be on the tilt-a-whirl if you need me!" With a swish of her trench coat she ran off.

I looked over at Sev and took his hand in mine. "Come on then." We wandered aimlessly across the grassy field where the fair had been set up. A dozen or so rides made up a little midway, with flashing lights and pouding music. Next to it sat three or four rows of booths and stalls; vendors selling everything from jewelery to toys to chocolates to clothing. We joined a queue of people waiting to buy tickets.

"You know, a simple charm could make this entire operation more effcient," Sev said to me, gesturing around.

I hit him on the arm. "Come on, Sev, can we just pretend to be a normal couple of teenagers on a date rather than simplifying everything with..." I looked around at the Muggles "with you-know-what?"

Sev smiled faintly. "A date with Lily Evans," he said quietly, sounding incredulous. "Sounds fine with me."

"Good." I stepped up to the booth and fished in my pockets for my Muggle money. "Two ride-all-day bracelets, please."

"I'm not sure about this, Lily."

I couldn't help but giggle. "Aw, is the big bad Slytherin afraid of a widdle kiddie ride?"

"That is not a kiddie ride, that is a death trap," Sev said through clenched teeth, his black eyes fixed solidly on the ferris wheel.

I sighed. After four hours, we had been on every ride except for this one. It looked like it was time to bring out the big guns. "Come on, Sev, for me?" I said in a pathetically simpering voice, pouting up at him. He did a slight double take, and groaned.

"Lily..."

"_Seeev..."_

Sev narrowed his eyes. "You're terrible."

I beamed, hugging his arm. "Love you too," I chirped, dragging him towards the queue. It wasn't very long before I was leading him up the metal steps and sitting next to him on the seat. He was gripping the bar with white knuckles, his eyes screwed shut.

"The boyfriend aint a fan of heights?" the carnie guessed, locking the lap bar into place.

I smiled thinly. "Evidently not." I reached across and took his hand, and he squeezed it tight when we began to move. I fought hard not to laugh at his expression as we climbed higher and higher, and suddenly the ferris wheel came to a stop to let other passengers on and we were sitting right at the top. "Sev, Sev open your eyes," I said quietly.

One at a time, Sev cracked his eyes open, and after a moment or two I felt him relax. The scenery was beautiful - the sun was just setting, painting the sky orange and gold and pink and purple, and the lights on the ferris wheel were twinkling merrily. I broke into a broad smile; after reading and watching so many romance stories when I was younger, this was almost exactly how I had imagined my first date would be, with the smell of popcorn floating up to us from the ground and the sunset bright on the horizon.

"Alright, alright, you win," Sev said, a faint smile on his face. "It _is_ nice up here."

My eyes searched him almost hungrily. "Kiss me," I breathed, and Sev wasted no time in cupping my face in his hands and touching his lips to mine. I sighed happily, leaning in, wanting more, but the ferris wheel jerked to life again and Sev pulled away, gripping the lap bar again.

He caught my look and frowned. "Once we're still it's fine," he admitted, "but moving is something else altogether." I laughed lightly, scooting closer to him, and rested my head on his shoulder. We went around twice more before Sev found it in him to let go of the bar with one hand, putting the arm around me and hugging me even closer. I shifted my head up and kissed him again.

"You know, this is the first date I've always pictured," I admitted, once we were off the ride. We were wandering aimlessly, our hands tightly clasped, the light fading fast. "I was always a sucker for romance novels."

Sev chuckled. "Our next date is going to be in the Wizarding world," he said quietly, leaning towards me so only I could hear. "Yes, we'll explore all of Diagon Alley and I'll buy you ice cream and all the Butterbeer you could drink... and we can snog by the fire in the Leaky Cauldron..."

A scream rose from the midway and we froze in our tracks. It wasn't a scream of joy from one of the rides - no, this scream was laced with terror, and now others were joining it. Neither of us moved, we just stood there hand-in-hand, our backs to the sound.

"You've got to be kidding me," he groaned.

"Do we ever get a break?" I growled back, plunging my free hand into my jean pocket and pulling out my wand. Sev mirrored my movement and we both whirled around, wands pointing menacingly - at three black-cloaked creatures, great skeletal things hovering above the grass.

_Dementors._

Instantly it was like all the happiness had gone from the world, leaving nothing but cold despair in it's wake. The warm summer temperature had plummeted so that I could see my breath in the air. I tried to cast a spell, but not only did I find it impossible but I realized that I had no idea just what spell to use. _What the hell sort of spell do you use against a Dementor? _I thought angrily. We had only had one lesson about them in fifth year, and the Professor had mentioned something about a Patronus, but otherwise I was at a total loss. Beside me Sev was staggering backwards with a haunted quality to his expression.

Suddenly, a dog came barelling out of nowhere - not quite a dog though, for it was made up of some kind of vapoury silver substance. It charged at the Dementors which were instantly repelled by the creature, and I was able to breathe again as it drove them further and further away. Kate came pushing past us, her wand outstretched and her face a mask of determination. She was controlling the dog, driving the Dementors away... and now a series of cracks ripped through the air and more wizards, Aurors and Ministry wizards alike, began Apparating, sending their own foggy animals after them. It was a few moments before they seemed to give up, swooping away into the night that had fallen sometime during the attack.

There was a shivering moment of silence before Muggles began screaming again. I wasn't all that surprised - after all, two dozen people had just appeared out of thin air and driven off impossible creatures that should only have existed in children's nightmares. I ignored them, whirling around to find Sev, who had fallen onto the grass and was looking around frantically. As soon as his eyes locked onto mine he grabbed my wrist and I fell next to him willingly enough, throwing my arms around him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Lily," he whispered into my hair, and I could feel both of us trembling. I pulled away, drinking him in desperately, wondering how close we had come to losing one another. Without hesitating any longer I seized his face in my hand and kissed him fiercely before hugging him tight. "Thank Merlin you're okay..."

"Oh god, Sev, I felt so defenceless..." I choked, a dry sob tearing from my throat. "What the hell were they doing here?"

"I don't know," Kate said grimly, and only then did I realise she was standing above us. "But I have a feeling it has to do with your little friends and their boss." She knelt down and put a hand on my shoulder, and behind all the worry and fear in her eyes I could see faint amusement. "Somehow I get the feeling ol' Mad Eye won't be letting us set foot outside that house for the rest of our lives."

* * *

><p>Sev and I tiptoed through the house, careful to avoid any creaky floorboards. The house was dark; it was only eight in the morning and we were positive that everyone else was asleep. Sev and I, meanwhile, were fully dressed, our pockets full of wizard money. Between Moody's growing paranoia and mum's over protectiveness, we had been lucky to get a chance to so much as glance out a window ever since the fair incident.<p>

We reached the bottom floor and crept across the front hall towards the front door. We had almost made it when the sudden sound of someone clearing their throat made us whirl around. Moody was standing in the living room, glaring at us warningly. "And what do you think you're doing?"

Sev grabbed my hand and we ran, bursting out the front door into the already warm August morning. We heard Moody thundering after us and I laughed as we ran even faster, making a beeline towards the edge of the protective enchantments around the house. Moody roared and snatched at my arm but it was too late; Sev pulled us just outside the barrier and Disapparated just as I felt the Auror's fingers brush my skin.

I collapsed on top of Sev in the clearing, giggling breathlessly. "Oh, they're going to lose it when we get home," I said.

"Well we'll have to make today worth it," Sev replied, sitting up. I slid down so my head was in his lap and I grinned up at him. It faded after a few moments, remembering where I was.

"It's weird, being this near but not going to visit," I mumbled, thinking of the house I had grown up in.

Sev sighed, running a hand through my hair. "If anyone, you'd be visiting Death Eaters. It's risky, even being here this long. We should keep going."

"Fine." I stood up and offered my hand to him. He took it and I Apparated us the rest of the way to The Leaky Cauldron. Diagon Alley was already bustling with life despite the early hour and I couldn't help feeling slightly nervous after everything that had happened. I caught Sev's eyes and he squeezed my hand reassuringly. Nevertheless, I held my wand tight in my free hand.

We finished our school shopping as quickly as we could, treating it like a chore rather than something we looked forward to like we always did. The last thing either of us wanted was to spend our special day doing anything other than having as much fun as we could. It wasn't until nine, when we were just finishing up at Flourish and Blott's that I remembered something, gasping sharply and nearly dropping my bag.

"What, what is it, what's wrong?" Sev asked urgently.

"Oh, nothing, it's just... this is our last time we're going to be here for school shopping, isn't it?" I looked up at him. He frowned deeply. "Do you remember, August before first year? Mum took you along with us, to get all our stuff."

Sev laughed. "Yes, and Madame Malkin stabbed me about a dozen times."

"And you lit the curtains on fire."

"Well, I seem to recall that I wasn't the one who very nearly killed Ollivander when trying out her wand..."

"That was an accident, how was I supposed to know he was standing close enough to nearly get trapped under that shelf?"

"You were lucky he moved in time."

I smiled. "Anyway, I'm done here..." I put my bags down, shrunk them and stowed them safely in my pocket. Sev copied my movements.

"We've got the rest of the day to ourselves now," he reminded me happily, taking my hand again and leading me back out into the cobbled street. "What do you want to do?" My stomach growled loudly before I could answer, and Sev chuckled. "Same here... come on, I'll buy you anything you like."

Five minutes later, the two of us were sitting side by side in a booth at the Leaky Cauldron, clacking our Butterbeers together. "To eight years!" I said cheerfully, taking a swig from my glass.

"The best eight years of my life," Sev agreed, sipping his own drink. When he set the glass down I noticed a fleck of foam at the end of his nose. He crossed his eyes to look at it and I giggled, reaching out to wipe it away with a finger and then licking it off. He watched, his eyes wide, and I smirked. "You're going to be the death of me, you know," he said hoarsely.

My only response was to grin wider. "If Moody doesn't get to us first. Come here." I grabbed the back of his head, dragged him towards me and kissed him. We had barely had five minutes alone since the fair and I was aching for something, anything more than the handful of light, quick kisses we had stolen over the past few weeks. I heard him sigh happily as I deepened the kiss but with another, more reluctant sigh, he pulled away.

I gave him a puzzled look and he smiled faintly. "We're sitting in a very crowded pub," he reminded me quietly. I chuckled.

"We could go somewhere less crowded."

"You've been hanging around Mary too much."

"Do you really have a problem with that?" I moved even closer, my eyes twinkling with amusement.

"None whatsoever," Sev replied, his voice almost a growl. "Where?"

"Anywhere."

"How about home?"

I looked around and felt my heart plummet when I saw Moody standing there, looking absolutely livid. Sev swore under his breath.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Moody," I said, smiling weakly.

He seized my forearm. "We're leaving," he growled, and pulled us both along with him as he Disapparated back to the house.

* * *

><p><em>"Lily!"<em>

"Doe!"

I crashed into Dorcas with an _'oof!'_ and struggled to breathe as she hugged me tight.

"How dare you not invite us to your little party?" Marlene exclaimed, pretending to be outraged, taking Dorcas's place in my arms.

"That was ages ago," I protested, "and besides, weren't you in France?"

"She was, but I wasn't, I was sitting in my boring old house, just waiting for someone to owl me..." Dorcas moaned.

"It's not my fault you weren't home."

"Shut up. Oh! Severus!" Dorcas launched herself at Sev, who dropped his bags and hugged her back awkwardly. One by one, the others joined us, until we had become a many-armed hug tangled together on the platform. The train's horn blared loudly and with a start I realised we only had five minutes until it left. I detached myself from the others and found mum, who was standing with Moody and Kate by the barrier.

Mum took one look at me and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. I laughed. "Mum, Easter break isn't that much further than Christmas," I protested, gently prying her off me.

"I know, dear, but it's the first time you're staying at school for Christmas..." Mum trailed off and I knew she was worried about us.

"It's also my last chance to ever do so, so don't you dare make me feel bad." I smiled sadly at her. "I'll write," I promised.

"Every week," she pressed.

"Yes, mum, every week."

Mum nodded and studied me for a moment more. "Be safe."

"Right, like I'm going to go pissing off Slytherins on purpose," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Not just that," mum said, and I saw her eyes flick over to Sev. My own eyes widened in surprise and I felt my face reddening.

"Mum," I moaned, embarassed, but she just chuckled and hugged me one last time.

"See you in April, kiddo," Kate said cheerfully. Moody was silent, and I knew he was still furious about our escape to Diagon Alley. I gave him a weak smile and he nodded curtly.

The whistle blew again and Sev appeared beside me. "Come on... see you at Easter, Mrs. Evans." Mum hugged Sev quickly before letting us go. We hurried after the others, jumping onto the train just as it began moving. I followed Sev, picking my way through the usual crush of students at the windows, and fell into a seat in a compartment with all the others.

"Oh my god, this is the last time we're going to do this," Mary said suddenly. "We're graduating this year."

"Oh, don't, I did my makeup all nice this morning and I don't want to ruin it thinking about stuff like that," Marlene moaned, and there was a ripple of laughter through the compartment. I couldn't stop smiling. As much as I didn't want the summer to end, the prospect of returning to Hogwarts for one last year was an enticing one and I couldn't wait to step through the doors again. I looked at Sev, who grinned right back and took my hand in his. In that moment, I didn't care about NEWTs or Slytherins or Death Eaters or anything but the man beside me and the friends around me. As long as I had them around, I knew that I could get through anything that my seventh year threw at me.

"... last year at Hogwarts, let's make it count!" James said excitedly, finishing a sentence I hadn't entirely heard.

"Hear hear!" I said with a laugh, miming holding up a drink. James raised one of his own, pretending to toast.

"To our seventh year!" he said, grinning wickedly. "It's gonna be totally awesome."

* * *

><p><em><strong>TADA!<strong>_

_**I was in NaNo mode for this whole thing so there might be a lot of unnecessary words in there, but I think I like it. But did you? Let me know, it'd be greatly appreciated!**_

_**And I love you. Really, I do. Did I ever mention it? Because I love you THIS MUCH! *throws open arms as wide as possible***_

_**Aaaand, feel free to add me on the YWP NaNoWriMo site, as nagini1025. (16,854 and counting... I think I'm going to fail)**_

_**RIGHT, anyway, I'm going to shut up.**_

_**EDIT: Sorry about the re-upload, I messed up the breaks. S'all good now**_


	15. Chapter 15

By the end of the first week, it was clear that I had completely underestimated NEWT year. Friday night found us all huddled in the library, utterly swamped by the amount of homework we had been assigned.

"This sucks royal Hippogriff," James moaned, putting his head on the desk. I would have laughed if it weren't for the four more inches of Transfiguration I had to write. Sev was the only one who hadn't complained at least once; he was hunched determinedly over his parchment, scrawling furiously so that his black quill was a blur.

Alice made a strangled sound and slumped back in her chair. "Severus, you're smart, why don't you invent a spell or potion or something that finishes all homework flawlessly, huh?" she asked. If Sev heard her he didn't show it.

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Sev, come on, maybe we should just call it a night," I suggested.

"Can't," Sev said tightly, "I need to finish."

I sighed. "Sev, we've got all weekend," I reminded him.

"I'd rather work hard now and have time off later."

"We could have time off now, we've been working since the end of class and half of this isn't due until Tuesday." I gave Sev a very pointed look, trying to make it obvious what exactly I wanted to do with any 'time off'. He caught it, raising an eyebrow and smirking slightly.

"Fine." He closed his textbook with a thud and the others all sighed in relief, following suit.

"I'm going to bed," Mary announced. Alice nodded, her mouth opening wide in a jaw-cracking yawn. The lions got up from the table and Frank gestured for me to follow, but Alice gave him a frantic shake of the head and towed him away with a little smile at me.

Sev slumped back in his seat and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "NEWT year is going to kill me," he croaked. I smiled sympathetically and edged my chair close enough so that our legs touched, smoothing his hair.

"NEWT year is going to kill all of us," I said seriously, and Sev gave a gravelly laugh. "If we somehow, magically survive, I promise you that I will... I don't know, I'll buy you a puppy. But you have to promise me that you aren't going to overwork yourself all year."

Sev gave me a sideways look. "If I don't overwork myself I won't do any good on the exams and I won't get a proper job and I won't be able to support..." He trailed off, his eyes flicking away and his cheeks gaining a shade of pink.

"Support _us?_" I finished for him, raising an eyebrow. He swallowed; I saw his Adam's apple bob and his face turn slightly darker.

"That was slightly presumptuous of me, wasn't it?"

"Not in the slightest." I laughed. "After everything we've been through together - hell, after everything we're going to go through - do you really think I'm going to be spending time after Hogwarts with anybody but you?"

Sev smiled and looked back up, and I could see that his eyes were full of nothing but adoration. "I love you," he reminded me quietly.

"I know. I love you too." I took a quick glance around for the librarian before giving him a peck on the mouth. "Now come on, I figure we've got, what, half an hour until curfew?"

"What can we do for half an hour?" Sev asked innocently, scooping everything into his bag and pulling it onto his shoulder.

"I'm sure we'll find something," I replied, rolling my eyes. As soon as we were out of the library I set off towards the nearest hidden corridor, the entrance of which was pretending to be a solid wall. Sev followed me in, chuckling to himself, but it was cut short when I seized him by the tie and dragged his mouth to mine.

"Someone is feeling amorous tonight," he commented once we had broken for air. He continued kissing down my neck with a smug little smile.

"When was the last time we actually snogged? Because I guarantee it wasn't in that god-forsaken house," I grumbled. "I've missed you."

He made a little sound of agreement, now nudging the fabric of my uniform out of the way to access more skin. I swung my head to the side, clutching desperately at the back of his shirt. I was grateful for his body pinning mine to the wall; if it hadn't been I'd have collapsed.

His hands began to travel up from my waist, up and up until they slid over my ribs and my eyes fluttered shut. "Sev," I said urgently, but I was too distracted by his fingers lightly brushing my breasts and his teeth biting at the hollow of my throat. "Damn it, Severus, _kiss me,_" I moaned impatiently, and without hesitation he caught my mouth in his in a burning kiss. As our passion mounted, I could feel my heart racing and another throbbing sensation just below my belly button. Without thinking about it - I wasn't really thinking about anything anymore - I lifted one leg and wrapped it around his waist. Instantly Sev had picked me up and pinned me against the wall again, holding me there. I wrapped my legs tight around his waist and moaned involuntarily when he began to rock his body against mine. I matched his rhythm and he growled my name, picking up the pace.

After a few minutes of this he froze up suddenly, and I knew exactly why. I could _feel _why he was turning so red, pressed up against me. After a moment he set me down. "I'm -"

"Shut up," I panted, my blood still rushing in my ears, trying to kill the craving and the desire bubbling up inside me. "We should have stopped anyway."

"Right." We stood there for a little while longer, both of us trying to catch our breath and get ourselves under control again. He met my eyes and I couldn't help the little laugh that spilled from my lips.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He leaned forwards and kissed me, and despite how light it was I wanted more and had to suppress a whimper when he pulled away. "Goodnight, Lils. I love you."

"Love you too." I watched him duck out of the corridor and out of sight, and I sighed, leaning my head back to bump against the wall. I stood there for a moment, replaying the past twenty-odd minutes in my mind, and then forced myself to return to Gryffindor tower.

* * *

><p>Sev and I walked hand in hand into the Great hall. The year before we would have been getting nothing but dirty looks or astounded gazes, but what with nearly half of the Slytherins in our year expelled and everyone else so used to it, the most acknowledgement we got was James yelling, "Oi! Snape, Evans, c'mere!" from the Gryffindor table.<p>

"This might interest you," Remus said happily, holding out an issue of the Daily Prophet. I took it and skimmed the front page. As soon as I read the bold headline I broke into a broad grin.

"Aurors raid Death Eater hide out, seven arrested," I read aloud, and Sev beamed.

"Who?" he asked excitedly, sitting down on the bench.

I ran through the article and sat next to him. "Hmm... oh, look!" I cried, pointing to a name on the paper. "Dolohov's parents were among them, and it was our lot actually doing the raid, see?" I pointed out Kate and Moody's names.

"Brilliant."

James stood up. "Anyway, I should be off - Quidditch tryouts start in an hour, I don't know why I've put it off so long, the match against Slytherin is on the first of November..."

"Good luck," Mary said, standing to kiss him on the cheek.

"I don't need it, I'm the Quidditch Captain!" James protested.

Mary rolled her eyes. "I know that, you've only been flaunting that badge at everyone since you got it. I meant, good luck with that lot." She jerked her head towards a group of excitedly babbling second-years down the table, who were casting admiring glances towards James. I could hear a few words floating towards us - _Keeper, Quaffle, Cleansweep_ - and I knew they were hoping to join the team.

James groaned. "Bloody hell."

"Have fun out there," I said bracingly, clapping him on the shoulder.

He pretended to look offended. "What, you aren't going to come watch?"

Sev scoffed. "Come watch a bunch of Gryffindor swots fall off their broomsticks and plot our downfall? I don't think so, Potter."

"There won't be any plotting involved, Snivellus," James taunted, the old cruel nickname more of an endearment than an insult nowadays. "We're going to take down you snakes with our hands tied behind our backs." Sev only smirked, turning a page of the Prophet.

"Lily, are you coming?" Alice asked, and only then did I realize that the others had all stood up as well.

"Oh, yeah, I think I will." I started to get to my feet.

"I thought we were going to study?" Sev asked, raising an eyebrow. I laughed and gave him a sly smirk.

"There will be plenty of time for _studying_ later, but Merlin forbid I miss James getting a Bludger to the skull."

James made an insulted sound.

"As tempting as that sounds, I still have that Transfiguration essay," Sev decided. I leaned down and gave him a quick kiss. "Have fun."

"Oh, I will," I assured him, and then making sure James could hear me, I leaned over to Remus and asked dryly, "Now, what's the best jinx you can recommend to make James' broomstick hit him over the head a few times?"

* * *

><p>"And they're off! The Hogwarts inter-house Quidditch season begins with a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin - and here's James Potter the lion, taking the Quaffle and starting what promises to be an exciting game!"<p>

It was a brisk November morning, but the entire school was sitting in the stands, watching the Quidditch match and cheering loudly. Mary, Alice, Dorcas, Marlene and I had gone all-out to show our Gryffindor pride, wearing our scarves and painting our faces crimson and gold. Even Remus had reluctantly allowed us to smear two red lines under his eyes. Sev, meanwhile, sat next to me rebelliously in Slytherin colours, a speck of green in a sea of red. "As much as I love you and respect James, there is no way I'm going to be supporting Gryffindor," he had said stubbornly, and despite Dorcas's multiple attempts to change his mind, he wouldn't budge one inch.

"Potter making an attempt at the goal - oh, blocked by Slytherin Keeper Rosalie Aiken, who gives it back to the Chaser... Lewis takes it off him, passes it off to Potter - Gryffindor score!"

The crowd roared and I jumped to my feet, cheering with them. Sev pretended to look sullen, and I laughed and tugged his hat over his eyes. "We're still going to beat you," he mumbled.

"Of course you are, Snapey-wapey," Sirius cooed, clapping him on the shoulder.

Twenty minutes later, Sev wasn't looking so confident. "And that makes it eighty-zilch to the lions - Slytherin will really have to pull themselves together, because Gryffindor is on fire today!"

"Bollocks," Sev growled, taking my Gryffindor scarf and wrapping it around his neck as well.

"Atta boy!" Frank said happily, and Sev rolled his eyes.

"Go, go, Gryffindor," he said dully, and I beamed and kissed him on the cheek.

"This is it!" the announcer cried suddenly, and in an instant we were all on our feet, my scarf sliding up around my forehead thanks to Sev's height. "Both Seekers are locked in a dive... MacGregor is pulling ahead... and yes! She's got the Snitch! Gryffindor wins!"

"Told you!" Mary shouted at Sev, jumping up and down and clapping hard.

The crowd began to pour onto the pitch and we followed, fighting our way towards James. "What'd I tell you, Snape?" James said with a cocky grin, after kissing Mary enthusiastically.

"Shut up, Potter," Sev said, but he was laughing all the same.

"Oi, Snape, what's that rag round your neck?" a voice called, and we all turned to face the Slytherin team glaring in our direction. "A traitor through and through eh?" one Chaser growled. A Beater was holding his bat menacingly, and all but the Keeper looked mutinous.

"Come off it, Flint, we agreed not to do this," she said quietly, giving me an apologetic glance.

"Shut up, Rosalie," the Beater snapped, who must have been the Flint a year younger than us that Sev had complained about once or twice. "He deserves it, after everything he's done... him and his Mudblood..."

Before I could blink, my friends all had their wands out and pointing towards the Slytherins. Sev's face was white with fury. "Have you forgotten about the Professors around?" Rosalie asked urgently, but no-one paid any attention.

"Call her that one more time," Sev snarled.

Flint smirked. "Mudblood," he said slowly, enunciating every letter.

Seven jinxes flew towards the Slytherins, all of which were repelled. The crowd began to backtrack away from what was quickly becoming a heated duel. "You idiots, McGonagall is _right there!"_ Rosalie shrieked, narrowly avoiding a poorly-aimed Bat-Bogey hex from Peter.

A gash appeared across Flint's face and Sev smirked triumphantly. "Sev," I breathed - even if he was defending me, I didn't want him using any sort of Dark Magic.

Flint's face contorted into a malicious scowl and pointed his wand straight at me. "_Avada Kedavra!_" he yelled, and there was a cry from my friends and a new voice before I was knocked backwards and everything went black.

* * *

><p><strong><em>I feel like this one was really short. Was it? If it was, sorry.<em>**

**_HOORAY FOR CLIFFHANGER ENDINGS AND CHARACTERS BASED OFF READERS (Three cheers for the lovely fax-snily-malecfan101!) I'm working on the next chapter right now, I swear to Merlin. Also, if anyone's interested, I'm nearly finished my NaNoWriMo and I'm getting closer to convincing my mum to take me to LeakyCon. Omnomnom. _**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Omnomnom. Sorry for the wait, but I finished NaNoWriMo (YAY!). Just remember that at the moment I'm still sort of in that mindset so if it's not up to scratch, that's why. Also there was a character of mine called Mary also, so some of my Mary might have leaked into Jo's Mary. Whoops. Anyway, I'll stop talking. READ ON **_

* * *

><p>When I came around, I could barely see a thing - the world was dark and blurry. For a wild moment, I thought I was dead, and this was the afterlife, until I heard Sev's voice calling my name frantically.<p>

"She's not dead," James' voice said, sounding exasperated. "I must have told you that a million times."

"Thank god for that," Alice's voice mumbled.

"Normally I go by Jaz, but I suppose God works too," an unfamiliar voice chuckled, and then, "Oh, see, she's fine. Hi there, miss Evans."

With some difficulty, I sat up and tried to focus. "Oh, here," someone said, and the lights of the Hospital Wing turned on all at once. I slammed my eyes shut, nearly blinded.

"What time is it?" I asked, my voice raspy. I blinked my eyes open again. All my friends were gathered around my bed, Sev right at my side, holding one of my hands in his.

Alice offered a glass of water and I took it gratefully. "Maybe ten?" she said, and I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Dumbledore let us all stay past curfew. Madame Pomfrey wasn't too happy."

James laughed. "She was probably a lot angrier about this bloke - smoking in Hogwarts, in the _Hospital Wing_, no less..."

"Who?" I asked, craning to see who he was talking about.

Sirius shuffled aside and a boy I'd never seen before stepped forwards. He had blonde shaggy hair that hung down just to his chin, with a few braids scattered within it. It must have been bleached, because his skin was the colour of milk chocolate. He wore Ravenclaw robes and three piercings in his left eyebrow. Those, plus the number of scars and burns on his face and hands, made him one of the most alarming-looking boys I'd ever seen. "I'm Jaz Kennings," he said, his mossy green eyes twinkling. "I'm in your year, only in Ravenclaw." He gestured to the badge on his chest.

I nodded. "Lily Evans."

"I know." Jaz chuckled.

There was a pause. "Is anyone going to tell me what happened?" I asked after a moment. "I mean, shouldn't I be dead?"

"Flint cast the killing curse," Sev said tensely, his grip on my hand tightening for a moment.

"But he saved your life," Mary chirped, nodding towards Jaz, who smiled modestly.

"Well, yeah. I shoved you out of the way just in time, nearly got hit myself. It's a miracle it didn't hit anyone behind you, really."

"That was hours ago though!" I exclaimed, looking past my friends to the dark sky outside.

Jaz grinned sheepishly. "I might have shoved you into a Stunning jinx."

I laughed. "Thanks very much then."

"Wait, are you thanking me sarcastically for pushing you into a Stunning jinx, or thanking me sincerely for saving your life?" Jaz asked. I looked at James, who quite happily hit Jaz upside the head.

"So, how many Slytherins are left then?" I turned to Sev, who smirked grimly. "Flint's been expelled. The rest of the team are in detention for duelling, except for the Keeper... Rose or something."

"Rosalie," Alice put in. "She came by earlier, said she felt terrible for what her team did. Pomfrey wouldn't let her stay though... speaking of whom, she'll probably want to see you, now that you're up."

As if on cue, the matron came bustling out of her office, shooing the others away in her effort to get to me. She tilted my head up and shone the lighted tip of her wand in both of my eyes. "Do you feel lightheaded, dizzy, ill in any way?" she demanded.

I squinted and raised a hand to cover my eyes. "No, just - can I go back to the common room now?"

Madame Pomfrey frowned for a moment before nodding curtly. "Just take it easy for the night," she said firmly, and breezed back to her office. I got to my feet and we all went wandering out of the Hospital Wing. The corridors were dark and empty - curfew was hours ago - and I felt like one of the ghosts.

"This is my stop," Jaz said, gesturing down another corridor that must have led to the Ravenclaw common room. I rose up on my toes - he was even taller than Sev - and hugged him warmly.

"Thanks for, you know, saving my life."

"Don't mention it," Jaz said cheerfully, ruffling my hair. I ducked away and he grinned, giving us a mock salute before trotting down the corridor and out of sight.

"Bit weird, but he's an alright bloke once you get to know him," Sirius said, his hands deep in his pockets as we walked. Once we reached the Gryffindor common room, the others hurried inside and I lingered outside with Sev.

"I almost lost you again today," he said through gritted teeth.

"No, don't you dare start on that again." He wouldn't meet my eyes, so I grabbed his head and turned it towards me. "Sev, I thought we agreed to stop. It's not our fault this is happening, it's all because of the Death Eaters."

Sev stared at me for a moment before sighing and nodding. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right," I said smugly. "Goodnight." Sev bent down to kiss me, and even though we were both out of breath when we separated I found it was far too short for my liking. I couldn't help smiling faintly, my mind drifting back to the night at the beginning of the year.

"Goodnight," Sev replied, and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was remembering the same thing. I didn't move, and neither did he.

Before either of us could say anything, the portrait hole swung open again and Alice poked her head out. "Come on, Lils," she said impaitently, smirking slightly, and I huffed to myself, hugging Sev goodbye and reluctantly following Alice back into the common room. "Merlin, you've got it bad for him, don't you?" She chuckled and nodded back in Sev's direction.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said evasively.

"Sure you don't." Alice winked and hurried up the stairs to the dormitory with a knowing grin.

"I do not!" I called after her, and fell into the nearest armchair, scowling into the fire when I realized that I couldn't deny it if I tried.

* * *

><p>"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of Hogwarts since the Founders' days. On Christmas Eve night, we gather in the Great Hall for a night of <em>well-mannered<em> frivolity." Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed and flicked over to where James and Sirius sat, grinning mischievously. "I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward - and I mean this literally, because the Yule Ball is first and foremost a dance."

There was an outbreak of groans from the boys - Sirius loudest of all - and excited muttering from the girls in the room; beside me Marlene was already chatting excitedly with Mary, and Alice was mumbling, "Oh Merlin, what am I going to wear?"

"Silence," McGonagall said, frowning, and the room fell silent again. "The house of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of Hogwarts school - never mind the Wizarding World - for nearly ten centuries, and I will not have you, in the course of a single evening, besmirch that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons!"

James's face cracked into a grin and he leaned over to Sirius. In a carrying whisper, he said, "Try saying that five times fast, eh?" and both boys began chanting the words as quickly as they could.

"You'll do better to practice in detention, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, not even turning around. "Now, on your feet, all of you - by Christmas Eve you'll all be top-notch ballroom dancers... _or else_."

I didn't even have to look around to know who was running up behind me. With a smirk, I stuck out my hand and Sev grabbed it, pulling me down the hall with him. "Why're we running?" I asked innocently.

"Because I might have tracked some slush and snow into the Great Hall."

"You're an idiot."

"Don't remind me." Sev grimaced and pulled me into a tapestry-hidden corridor just as we heard Filch run past. Sev looked around, blinking in the gloom. "Oh, this is familiar."

I pressed my lips together - it was the same corridor we had found ourselves in weeks ago. "Very," I agreed, and my eyes met his, a faint blush creeping up my cheeks.

Sev cleared his throat. "So, would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me?" he asked after a moment, sounding far more nervous than he needed to be.

"I'm afraid I'm already going with someone."

Instantly Sev's features darkened. "What? Who? If it's Potter I'm going to hex his brains out, I swear to Merlin -"

"Shut up." I laughed, hitting his arm. "I'm going with my handsome Slytherin boyfriend, thanks very much."

Sev pretended to pout. "Don't tease, Lily."

I gave a tiny smile and wrapped my arms around his neck, stepping closer. "You're even more adorable when you're jealous, you know."

"I am _not_ adorable," Sev growled, sounding offended. I didn't reply - not verbally, anyway. Before either of us had a chance to deepen the kiss, I heard footsteps just outside and we broke apart. By the time Dorcas came running towards us, we were walking hand-in-hand down the corridor like nothing had happened.

"Lily, you'll never believe it!" she squealed. "I've only been looking for you everywhere - Peter, Peter asked me to the Yule Ball!"

"Doe, that's fantastic!" I exclaimed, hugging her and trying not to laugh. Now that I thought about it, her and Peter didn't make a very bad couple at all. Sev was sniggering beside me and I managed to elbow him in the ribs.

"Ahem. I - congratulations, Dorcas," he bit out, still shaking with silent laughter.

If Dorcas noticed, she didn't show it. "I've got to go tell Marlene, she's going with Sirius, you know."

Sev looked about ready to explode, so I smiled encouragingly at Dorcas and ushered her away before turning back to Sev, who snorted loudly. "Oh be nice, maybe she'll give Pettigrew some spine."

"Pettigrew is a lost cause, you and I both know that. But Marlene and Sirius?"

I twisted my lips. "Well, Marlene is easily the prettiest, and Sirius the most handsome of all the Gryffindors. Alice told me she's been wondering when they'd get together, even just for a quick shag in a broom cupboard." I laughed.

"McKinnon might be the prettiest Gryffindor, but you're the most beautiful student here, by far."

I could feel my cheeks turning dark red, but before I could say anything Sev had captured my mouth with his again. It wasn't very long before I was losing myself completely in the kiss, a fire starting somewhere inside me...

I pushed him away suddenly, gasping for breath. He gave me a puzzled look. "Homework," I said tightly. "I have homework, tons of it. Sorry."

"Lily," he started to say, but I was already gone.

* * *

><p>James fell onto the couch, grinning. "Hey, Evans," he said cheerfully, but his grin faded quickly. "What's wrong?"<p>

I looked up from the fire. "You can't help, it doesn't matter."

"Oh," James said, eyes widening. "Oh, I'll get Mary."

"What? No, James..." I protested, but Mary had already dropped onto the cushion he had just left.

"So." Mary was obviously as eager to help as she usually was, leaning forwards and putting her chin on her fists, giving me a searching look. "What's wrong, school problems, family problems, problems with Severus..." Her voice dropped and she whispered, "girl problems?"

I groaned. "I hate your boyfriend."

"I hate him too." Mary patted my arm kindly. "Now, spill!"

I looked around at the crowded common room. "Not here," I growled, and before I knew it Mary had seized my upper arm and was dragging me up to the dormitory. Alice and Marlene were already there, chatting animatedly, and Dorcas was curled up in bed reading.

"Oh, is Lily going to tell us what's making her so out-of-it lately?" Marlene asked interestedly.

"It's because she wants to shag Severus but she knows she won't let herself because she either thinks she's too young or she wants to wait until they're married or whatever." Alice's eyes flicked over to me, a triumphant spark burning bright. "How well do I know you, eh?"

I gaped at her, my mouth working to find words but not succeeding. Finally, I managed to snarl, "I hate you," and fell face-first onto my bed.

"Oh, we've all been there," Mary said in a bored voice; I could almost hear her rolling her eyes.

"I haven't," Dorcas muttered.

"What am I supposed to do about it then?" I asked, my face still buried in my pillow.

Alice laughed. "Hell if I know."

"Fat lot of good you are, then," I grumbled, rolling over. Alice opened her mouth to speak, but a tapping on the window cut her off. I propped myself up on my elbows only to see an owl bobbing outside, tapping on the glass frantically, the wind buffeting it around. I scrambled to my feet and let the owl in; it collapsed on the floor and gave me a grateful sort of hoot. "Al, it's for you," I said, holding out the letter.

Alice took it and I watched her read it a few times, her eyes widening even more every time she reached the end. Just as I was about to ask what the letter said, she squealed loudly and fell back onto her bed, hugging the letter tight to her chest. Mary snatched the letter away, looking impatient, and her face broke into a broad grin.

"What, what is it?" Marlene demanded, reaching for the letter herself.

"Frank, it's... Frank... I've got to go," Alice said quickly, beaming. She grabbed her bag and hurried out of the room before anyone could speak.

"Give me this," I demanded, grabbing the letter and reading it aloud. "_Al - I propose a walk on the grounds. Do you? I'll be in the courtyard... under the arch. xFrank" _I looked up, wide-eyed. "No," I whispered.

"Yeah, just look at it!" Mary squeaked, her eyes bright.

"No _way!"_ I cried, clapping a hand over my mouth. "Aren't we a bit young?"

"Oh, pfft, everyone's pairing up, all across the country." Mary flapped her hand impatiently. "They're all so afraid some Death Eater is going to bump them off tomorrow, so they're seizing the day - _carpe diem,_ right?"

"You're both just hopeless romantics, I'm not going to believe it until I see a ring," Dorcas put in.

"Oh! Doe!" I exclaimed, remembering and turning to her. "Pettigrew?"

Dorcas's face split into a beam. We dwindled the rest of the evening away talking about the Yule Ball, and it wasn't until Marlene nodded off with her chin on her chest that we decided to give up waiting on Alice and go to bed ourselves.

I was nearly asleep when I heard footsteps on the stairs. Nobody else stirred so I stayed where I was, adjusting myself just enough to see the door open and Alice slip inside. She looked around the darkened room, frowning slightly, but she stopped when her gaze swept over my bed and she gave a muffled squeak.

"He proposed, didn't he?" I demanded, sitting bolt upright and casting a quick silencing charm around my bed so the other girls wouldn't wake up. Alice covered her mouth with both hands and squealed loudly, charging towards me and half-jumping onto me in a tight hug. "Oh my god, _Alice!_" I cried, snatching her hand and holding it up to my wand light. The ring was simple, a petite diamond on a gold band, but it was beautiful nonetheless - I could tell why Alice's face was damp with tears. "Tell me everything," I ordered, all tiredness forgotten.

Alice bit her lip, but I was positive that nothing could make her smile fade for a few days at least. "Um, we went for a walk. Round the lake, and it was so beautiful, Lils, there was just the lightest amount of snow falling, and then we were under the beech tree at the edge of the lake, and he just got down on one knee and asked me!"

"Al, that's -"

"Oh my god," Marlene said suddenly; obviously they had been awake the entire time and had removed my silencing charm. "Oh my god, Alice, you didn't...!"

Alice's eyes were shining with a new light now, one of mischief and slyness. "Did you know that the Room of Requirement can come up with the most comfortable bed in the world in no time flat?" she said offhandedly, and my jaw dropped with a faint pop.

_"Alice!"_ Mary yelped, beaming, and before I knew it all five of us were tangled together in a many-armed hug on my bed.

"Thank Merlin it's a Friday, I'm not getting any sleep tonight, am I?"

"Not a chance, Evans - I always thought you'd be the first, you and Sev are already all over each other..." Mary smirked.

"You're one to talk, Potter had your skirt hiked up pretty high the other day - and only _I_ can call him that!" I teased, smiling. "Besides, I thought we were freaking out over Alice."

"Can I be the flower girl?" Dorcas asked excitedly.

"Dibs on the maid of honour," Mary and I said at the same time.

"Oh, when I'm through with you, you'll be the single most beautiful bride on the planet," Marlene said; I could almost see the gears turning in her head, working out a full-scale makeover.

Alice laughed. "He only proposed a few hours ago," she protested.

"Hello, one of our best friends just got _engaged,_ we're allowed to make a big deal out of it." Marlene rolled her eyes. "So. Tell us everything."

"And we do mean _everything_," Mary added, wagging her eyebrows. Alice went pink and giggled shyly, but before long she was gushing. Finally accepting that we would be talking until sunrise, I shifted around to get more comfortable and summoned a bag of Honeyduke's candies Sev had bought me last Hogsmeade trip from my bag, passing them around to the others.

"You look awful," Sev said to me at breakfast, and I gave a jaw-cracking yawn. "What on Earth were you doing last night?"

I glanced over at Alice, who was sitting as close to Frank as it was possible to be, her face bright and her ring glinting in the morning light. "Studying?" I offered.

Sev frowned for a moment. "I'm never going to understand women, am I?"

I patted his arm kindly. "It's better that way."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Really though, how silly would it have been of me to make Lily die, eh? She's the narrator, after all! Don't fret, my friends, I won't be killing anyone off anytime soon. Or will I?<em>**

**_I mean, wat_**

**_Just a few things I wanted to clear up - ONE, Jaz is a creation of my lovely friend, and she wouldn't stop pestering me to put him in the story so I figured, why not? Second, I know the Yule Ball is a Triwizard Tournament thing. Shut up. For my purposes it's just a winter dance, the Triwizard Tournament just makes it even more special. Second, I know they're like seventeen, but in one of the books (I think it was HBP but I don't actually have my copies on-hand at the moment so I can't be precise) Molly Weasley mentioned that people were getting married very quickly for the same reasons Mary talked about, they figured they could get killed by Death Eaters any day so they seized the chance. _**

**_And, just so you all know, I've already got certain parts written and stored away in my computer... Lily and Sev will be following in Alice and Frank's footsteps quite soon, I assure you... *le tented fingers*_**


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N: Blorp. As always, I'm sorry for the wait. Hope it was worth it - the Yule Ball, Christmas, an incredibly unsubtle Starkid reference AND our favourite should-have-been-couple snog. A lot. ENJOY!**_

* * *

><p>On Christmas Eve morning, I woke up late and found the grounds completely coated with snow, shining blindingly bright in the mid-day sun. "About time you woke up," Dorcas commented; she was lying on her bed flipping through what looked like a Muggle fashion magazine. "The others have all gone down to lunch."<p>

I studied her for a moment. She wouldn't meet my eyes and she seemed more tense than usual. "Doe, is something wrong?" I asked, frowning.

"No," Dorcas said tightly, but now I could see her eyes shining with unshed tears. I scuttled off my bed and onto hers, pulling her into a tight hug.

"What's wrong?" I pressed.

"Everything!" Dorcas wailed, and suddenly she had burst into tears, tossing the magazine away. All I could do was rock her back and forth, smoothing her mousy hair and trying to calm her down. "It's just... you're brilliant and beautiful, Mary is gorgeous and funny, Marlene has half of the Hogwarts boys trailing after her like lovesick puppies, and Alice is _engaged_ for Merlin's sake - why can't I be that lucky, why don't I deserve love?"

"Doe, don't be daft, you deserve love just as much as anyone."

"It sure as hell doesn't feel like it," she spat bitterly. "No-one's ever told me I was beautiful, or kissed me, or even held my hand! I'm worthless!"

"Dorcas," I said firmly. "You're anything but worthless. You're beautiful and funny and kind and smart, you're the sweetest person I know, don't you dare say that!"

"It doesn't count, coming from you, you're supposed to say those things." Dorcas sniffled and rubbed her eyes with her hands. "Forget I ever said anything, I'm just going to graduate and get a few cats and live out my days alone..."

"Peter obviously thinks you're worth something, he asked you to the Ball tonight, remember?" I tried, desperate to help her.

Dorcas snorted. "Dumpy Peter Pettigrew, the Marauder's pet. Let's face it, he only asked me because every other girl in school turned him down..."

I sighed. "That's not what it looks like to me. You can see it in his eyes, Doe, he genuinely fancies you." Dorcas made a noncommittal noise. "I'll prove it to you tonight. And in the meantime, we're going to make sure you're the most gorgeous girl at Hogwarts tonight, just as soon as Mary and Marlene get back."

"Did somebody say makeover?" a voice sang, and the other three girls poked their heads into the room.

Marlene clapped her hands. "Okay, ladies, we've got seven hours until the Ball - ready, set, go!"

* * *

><p>The common room was almost deserted by the time we had finished; Alice had accidentally Vanished my Muggle curling iron and we had wasted over half an hour trying to Transfigure her pillow into one before realizing we could just use a simple charm. Mary was fuming, not wanting to be late, but Marlene was reassuring her that we'd be in time for the first dance and that it was better to make a grand entrance, anyway.<p>

"So, how do you feel?" I asked Dorcas, climbing out of the portrait hole with some difficulty thanks to my dress.

"Better," she admitted, smiling gratefully. We had made her light brown hair shine, falling past her shoulders and twisting into ringlets at the ends. Marlene hadn't used very much makeup at all, but whether she saw it or not Dorcas had a natural beauty about her. Her dress was simple, a wispy gold material with skinny straps.

We hurried down through the castle but paused just before we reached the last flight that would take us to the Entrance hall, where we could hear everyone waiting. "Quick, how do I look?" Alice demanded, so that her pale pink dress flared out around her knees.

"Brilliant. And me?" Mary twisted around, trying to see her short, tight, black dress from all angles. Marlene didn't say anything, smoothing down her dark blue floor-length dress.

"You all look perfectly pretty," I assured them, glancing around the corner. The boys were all waiting at the bottom of the stairs, sitting and laughing at a joke I couldn't hear. I could only see the top of Sev's head and swallowed nervously.

"Here we go then," Dorcas said bracingly, looking nothing short of terrified, and together we started down the stairs.

It was a few seconds before any of the boys noticed us, and when they did Remus was the first. He was wearing a simple beige suit that matched his hair perfectly. He beamed at us but before he could speak Jaz had craned around and wolf-whistled. "Looking good, ladies!"

Sev stood up slowly, his black eyes taking me in hungrily. I was wearing a simple strapless green dress, one that matched my eyes perfectly and stopped just at my knees. The most Mary had done was to curl my hair slightly and to add a light brush of mascara. "Lily," he said hoarsely, and I smirked, standing on the bottom step so I was level with his face. "You look... divine."

I giggled. "You look pretty nice yourself," I commented, gesturing to his smart black dress robes. He shook his head absently, his gaze still searching me.

Dorcas was approaching Peter nervously, who looked as though he had been hit over the head with a Beater's bat. "Hi."

"Hi," he replied. His watery eyes raked over her just once, fleetingly, and he stammered, "Dorcas, you're beautiful, did you know?"

Dorcas's face turned crimson and she broke into a broad smile. She gave me a sideways look and I smiled back before turning back to Sev. "So, can you dance?"

Sev snorted just as the doors to the Great Hall opened. The crowd gathered outside made a collective sound of amazement, and I couldn't help but join in - whoever had been in charge of decorating had gone all out; fake snow fell from the high arched ceiling, a dozen massive Christmas trees sat around the room, fully decorated, and a snowy stage had been set up for a band to play. We all filed into the hall, looking around with wide eyes, and Dumbledore wasted no time in gesturing for the music to start.

Two by two, couples began taking to the dance floor, Alice and Frank among the first. Sev held out a hand, smiling faintly. "So you can dance?" I asked dubiously, taking his hand in mine.

"No," he said simply, sweeping me out onto the floor with a grin, "but there's no better time to learn, right?"

I laughed. Before long he had picked up on what the others were doing and was twirling me around like an expert. By the time the song ended, my heart was as light as air and I was more than a little dizzy – but the song transformed into a new one, and Sev kept dancing, and I was having too much fun to protest.

The night wore on. I caught glimpses of my friends breezing past in each other's arms; Alice and Frank had the now-familiar cloud of bliss about them as they danced and even though it was obvious that neither Peter nor Dorcas had done one dance move in their lives, they both seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.

After an hour or two, Dumbledore got on stage and announced a band made of a group of fifth-years that called themselves the Weird Sisters. They were as good as any Muggle band, but by that point my feet were so sore I couldn't dance any longer. We made our way hand-in-hand to one of the many tables scattered about, where James, Mary and Remus were sitting. Sirius and Marlene were nowhere to be found.

"Five galleons says they're shagging in the Room of Requirement," James said eagerly as soon as we sat.

Sev smirked. "Black seems more like the broom cupboard type, don't you think?"

James laughed.

The others drifted away after a while, leaving Sev and I alone. "So you can dance," I pointed out, smiling.

"What can I say, I'm a quick learner," he chuckled, leaning forwards and giving me a quick peck on the forehead. "I'm going to go get some drinks, yeah?"

I nodded and stood, stretching after sitting for so long. I heard stumbling, shuffling footsteps behind me and turned to see Jaz grinning lopsidedly. If I didn't know better I would say he was positively ogling me, his eyes tracing over my body in the same hungry way Sev's had. "Having a good time?" I asked brightly.

"You look damn sexy tonight, Evans," he slurred, and only then did I pick up the smell of Firewhiskey on his breath.

My smile dropped immediatlely. "Thanks, Jasper, but I think you'd have better luck somewhere else," I said coldly.

"No girl here can hold a candle to you."

I fought not to sneer; Sev's habits were beginning to rub off on me. "Go to bed, Jaz."

"Only if you'll come with me."

By now I was scowling. "I have a boyfriend, who I love very much. And you're about to have a black eye."

I started to push past him but suddenly he grabbed me around the arms and crushed his mouth against mine. He tasted like cigarettes and alcohol, and as hard as I fought to get away his grip was remarkable. Just as I rose my knee to kick him as hard as I could, he was thrown away from me, sprawling on the floor with a split lip and a bloody nose. I met Remus's eyes, and I had a feeling his shocked expression matched my own. He focused on something behind me and his face fell. I turned just in time to see Sev stalking out of the Great Hall.

I huffed under my breath and ran after him, heels clicking on the flagstone. "Sev... Sev, wait up!" I called, grabbing his wrist and turning him around.

His eyes were full of pain and betrayal, and my heart sunk. "Let me go."

"Sev -"

"You kissed him, I saw you, don't lie to me!" he choked.

"Sev, listen -"

"I'm not going to stand here and listen to your excuses. Goodnight, Evans." He tugged his wrist out of my grip and began to stalk away again.

I stood there for a few moments, my mouth working but no sound coming out, feeling like he had slapped me. "Severus Snape, you listen to me right now!" I cried finally, my voice far louder than I had intended. He stopped short but didn't quite turn around. "_He_ kissed _me_, he's a drunk prat and I fully intend to put him in the Hospital Wing next time I see him. Remus practically broke his nose for it, it's not like I wanted him to. Do you honestly think I would go off snogging someone else after everything we've been through? I love you, do you hear me? I love _you_, and it's always been you, and it always will be."

"Why though?" he demanded. "Why me? You could get anyone in this school, plenty of other blokes would jump at the chance, you could have had Potter and his money but you chose me, and I never understood why. Even Jaz would be good to you, and what do I have? No family, no money, absolutely nothing to offer..."

I stepped up to him, taking his face in my hands so that he couldn't look away. "Do I really have to go over this again? You're brilliant and handsome - no, you are, maybe no-one else sees it but I do - and kind and compassionate. You're my best friend, and even if someone showed up on my doorstep with thousands of galleons, and chocolates and flowers and, oh, I don't know, unicorns and balloons, I'd still pick you, any day. I don't care if we end up living in a cardboard box by the motorway, you're the only person I'd ever want to spend my life with."

Sev took a shuddering breath, and my hands dropped to my sides. There was a long silence; all I could do now was cross my fingers and hope he would believe me. "Did you say Remus almost broke that birdbrain's nose?" he asked quietly, a smile flickering across our face.

I laughed out of sheer relief. "Yes, split his lip too."

"Our Lupin? Bloody hell, all that homework must have given him one hell of a right hook."

"Looks like it." I beamed at him, hugging him tight.

"I hope you know that the next time I see him, I'm going to jinx that eagle into the NEWTs," he said in a low voice, burying his face in my hair and squeezing me even tighter.

I chuckled. "It's a date." And then we were kissing, pouring everything into the gesture, desperation and love and reassurance and passion. He plunged his tongue into my mouth and I grunted in approval, clutching at his dress robes in an attempt to get even closer than we already were.

"We're standing in the middle of a corridor," he said after a moment, pulling away. I nodded, biting my lip and blushing at the thoughts running through my head. He must have seen the mix of disappointment and desire I felt in my eyes, because he smirked and held out a hand. I grinned mischievously and took it, and we hurried down the corridor to the first unlocked, disused classroom we could find. As soon as we were inside he closed the door with my back, pressing me up against it and kissing me deeply.

I gave a low laugh. "Someone is feeling amorous tonight," I said, in a poor, husky imitation of the way he had said the same thing months ago. He laughed too, peppering kisses along my jaw.

"I blame your dress," he growled, nipping at the skin.

I gasped and jumped. "You like it then?"

"I _love_ it," he enthused, bringing his mouth back to mine again. I ran my hands through his hair, tugging on the black tresses, and he held my waist tight against his own as we shuffled further into the room. We spun around so I was sitting on a desk, my legs wrapped tight around him. Suddenly, he was holding me close to him, with me cradled in his arms off the floor. "Sorry," he grunted, shifting my weight to get to his wand. "I just thought this would be more comfortable than a desk." With one flick of his wand he Transfigured one of the desks into a ratty old couch. He frowned but before he could try to fix it I wriggled out of his arms and fell onto the cushions with an 'oof'.

"It's fine," I assured him, sitting up and pulling him down on top of me. We rolled and I sat straddling his lap, deliberately pushing my hips slowly onto his. His eyes widened, lust plain on his face. I grinned at his reaction and bent down, capturing his mouth in a hungry kiss.

After a few minutes, we broke apart, both of us panting heavily. "Lily, are we...?"

Sev's question hung in the air. I swallowed. I was more than ready - he was too, I could feel it and see the dark red in his cheeks. but the rational part of me was screaming for me to stop before we went too far. After what felt like a small eternity, I made a strangled sound and fell forwards onto his chest. He chuckled tensely. "Yeah, me too."

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"So am I, believe me, but I know for a fact that if we did you'd regret it tomorrow. It should be more special than this." I nodded and he tilted my head up to his again, giving me a soft kiss. I groaned when he pulled away, starving for more, and I knew he felt the same way.

I met his eyes. "Maybe just a _little_ longer, yeah?"

"The others can wait ten more minutes," Sev agreed with a smirk, and he pulled my lips to his eagerly once more.

* * *

><p>It took me a few minutes to focus on where I was - this wasn't my bed in the Gryffindor dormitory or the bed at the safe house, but a larger, far more comfortable bed in what looked like a hotel room. I was panting, and so was Sev - <em>what is he doing here...?<em> - and I realized that neither of us were wearing any clothes, with Sev holding me close.

Oh.

I stretched, reaching over to embrace him as well, and I caught something shining on my finger out the corner of my eye - a wedding band.

_Oh._

"I love you," he said into my hair, kissing the top of my head.

I nodded, smiling. "I love you, too."

The hotel room, the bed, the wedding ring and Sev evaporated and suddenly my eyes snapped open, back in the Gryffindor dormitory. Alice was smirking down at me. "Had a good dream then?"

I looked around and tried not to sigh in disappointment. "The best," I agreed quietly.

"I could tell, you've been mumbling Severus's name into your pillow for the past five minutes." Alice's eyes were twinkling and I blushed a deep red before sitting up.

"It's Christmas?" I asked stupidly, my eyes falling on the small pile of presents at the foot of my bed.

"It is. Happy Christmas," Alice said, sitting back on her bed where her own presents were half-opened. She pulled the wrapping off one and grinned. "Oh, brilliant, I love these," she exclaimed, shaking a box of Ginger Newts. "Think fast, Doe." I ducked as one of the candies went soaring over my head. Dorcas caught it and stuffed it in her mouth eagerly.

"So, how was the Ball?" I demanded, turning to her as I began to unwrap my first gift. I smiled. It was a package of chocolate and sweets from Honeydukes and a note from Remus reading, _'Chocolate fixes everything! I missed you last night after you ran after Severus, find me at breakfast!'_

Dorcas's face shone. "It was magnificent, just fantastic, Peter and I really hit it off, he's quite funny and not as quiet as I always thought he was." She smiled shyly. "He's asked me on a date, next Hogsmeade weekend."

"Doe, that's fantastic!" I exclaimed, beaming at her. She grinned back, looking far happier than she had the day before.

Kate had sent me a package of liquorice. Her note read,_ 'Got to go across the pond on this big rally to raise awareness about You-Know-Who a little while after you left. It was great fun; I picked up some of these brilliant Muggle sweets called Redvines and thought you might like them, they're delicious!' _From mum I got a book of fairy tales, and I instantly recognized it as a new copy of one I had read so many times when I was younger that it had fallen apart. There was a number of Potions ingredients from Mary, a charm bracelet from Marlene, Dorcas had gotten me a new Gryffindor scarf - mine had been trampled and nearly destroyed during the scuffle at the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match - and Alice had simply given me a little note promising that she would buy me a new straightening iron as soon as she could.

We made our way down to breakfast after a while. The House tables had been returned and everyone was chatting happily, pulling open crackers with loud bangs or shouting 'Merry Christmas!' across the Hall. Before I could follow the others to where the boys and Sev were sitting, I found my path blocked by a raven-haired Slytherin just a little taller than me. Her hazel eyes were full of regret, and after a second I recognized her as the Keeper of the Slytherin Quidditch team.

"I'm Rosalie Aiken," she said quickly, not quite meeting my gaze and twisting her fingers together nervously. "And I just wanted to say - I never got around to apologizing. For my team. What they did was terrible, Flint deserved to get expelled." The corners of her mouth twitched. "Even if it does mean we're out of the running for the cup."

I smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks. And it wasn't your fault, really - we're just going to make it through the rest of the year and get away from them all, you know?"

She nodded, pressing her lips together in a thin smile. "Well, happy Christmas, yeah?"

I grinned. "Yeah, happy Christmas."

"What was that about?" Sev asked when I wedged myself between him and Remus. I shook my head and flapped my hand, digging into my breakfast.

When we were finished, Sirius announced that he had been dying to slaughter James in a snowball fight, and anyone was welcome to join them. So Mary, Alice, Frank, Peter, Dorcas, Marlene, Rems, Sev and I followed them out onto the grounds, where the snow was good and thick and the weather was relatively mild, for late December.

"Think fast, Prongs!" Sirius yelled, lobbing a snowball towards him. James brought his hand up and deflected the snowball with a lazy wave of his wand, sending it back towards Sirius. Within seconds, all of us were engaged in a heated battle, with Marlene shrieking about her new coat getting ruined and Remus doing more dodging than throwing. Just before I could hurl one at Frank, I felt one hit me in the back of the head, even though I knew no-one was behind me.

We all turned at the same time to face Jaz, who was standing there squinting in the sun and looking sheepish. Sev waded over to me, standing protectively in front of me. "Go away," he growled, and I could tell he was fighting very hard to keep his voice even.

"I just want to talk to Lily," Jaz rasped; clearly he was very hung over.

"Go away," James echoed, gritting his teeth.

"I just want to talk to her," Jaz repeated.

"She doesn't want to talk to you," Remus snapped.

I scowled and pushed past Sev, marching up to Jaz. He smiled weakly and opened his mouth to talk, but before he could make a sound my hand slapped across his face as hard as I could. He stumbled backwards. "What the hell was that for?"

"For last night, you toerag," I spat, slapping him again even harder on the other side of his face. "And I did swear I'd put you in the Hospital Wing next time I saw you, so you shouldn't be all that surprised when I do this." I whipped out my wand and cast a leg-locking jinx; he toppled into the snow with a yelp. I pulled back a leg, fully intending to kick him hard in the stomach, but suddenly Dorcas and Peter were pulling me away. I thrashed in their grip, and with a jolt of surprise I saw Alice and Mary restraining a fuming Remus, who looked ready to curse Jaz into oblivion. Sev took me from the others, holding me tight, but I could feel that he wanted to kick Jaz as much as I did.

"Come on, it'll make me feel better," I growled, struggling weakly. Sev chuckled tensely.

"I wanted to apologize!" Jaz said quickly, struggling to sit up. "I was an ass, I'm always an ass after I've got a little Firewhiskey in me, and as much as I'd love it if you ditched Snape and got with me, I wouldn't - argh!"

James had charged forwards and tackled Jaz just as he sat up, punching him hard in the jaw. "Leave Evans alone!"

"I need you to forgive me, please, I'm sorry!" Jaz called, spitting out blood.

"You need to leave," Remus said, his voice dangerously calm, his eyes dark.

"Stop!" I cried, feeling an unwanted rush of sympathy for the boy, who had obviously lost a tooth at the very least. "I'm not about to forgive you right now, you know," I said icily. "And as much as I want to make sure that you will never, ever have children, I'm going to let you go this time. But I swear to Merlin, the next time you put one toe out of line, one _hair,_ I'll kill you."

Jaz nodded eagerly, and after a moment I removed the jinx. He scrambled to his feet, grinning. "You won't regret it, Lily. I really am sorry, I wasn't in my right mind."

I sniffed. "You're lucky it's Christmas. Get out of my sight." I watched him go, and it wasn't until he was inside the castle that I let myself relax. Sev was watching me with wide eyes.

"I don't know if I ever told you, but after all those years of standing up to James and now that, you can be downright terrifying," he said weakly. I smirked and fell into his welcoming arms, burying my face in his chest.

"I mean it, you know. I'll kill the bastard."

Remus laughed tensely. "Can I help?"

I beamed at him. "Look at this, Remus Lupin, a true lion through and through. Chivalry and togetherness and all that, and I'm not even yours; anyone would be lucky to have you." Remus smiled modestly, though his eyes were still troubled.

"You said it yourself, we're like family." He shrugged.

There was a tense silence before Sirius stooped down and picked up a snowball again. "Where were we?"

* * *

><p>Sev brushed a lock of hair off my face, twirling it between his fingers. I smiled. I was sitting on his lap, lying with my back on his chest and his chin on my head, both of us warming up by the crackling fire in the library. We had spent the entire day outside, and after the feast the two of us had left the others and settled down here.<p>

"Merry Christmas," he said suddenly.

I laughed. "It's almost eight-thirty, nice of you to remember."

"Shut up, I remembered." He shifted under me, reaching for his pockets. "And before you ask, yes I remembered your gift, greedy."

"I am _not _greedy, I didn't even ask for anything!" I protested.

"Mm, neither did I, but I woke up to a fantastic set of NEWT study guides and a beautiful Eagle feather quill all the same." I knew he was smiling. "Thank you, for those, by the way."

He shifted again and pulled out a small box with a little red bow on the top. "Your first gift," he said proudly, presenting it to me. I twisted around so I was facing him, one leg on either side of his, and took the box, flipping it open. Lying inside was a delicate-looking bracelet, a row of smooth little black stones. Six of them in a row were stamped with gold letters, spelling out the world 'always'. "You know, because I'll always love you," Sev said after a moment, looking self-conscious. "I can charm it to read anything else, really, I just thought -"

"Don't you dare." I beamed at him and leaned forwards to kiss him. "It's beautiful. And it matches your eyes."

Sev smiled, a little knowing, sneaky smirk that suggested he knew something I didn't. "It matches your other gift, too."

My eyes widened. "Other gift, Sev, you didn't have to -"

"I wanted to," he insisted with a laugh. "Now come on, Pince wouldn't let me bring it into the library; want to take a little trip?"

I followed him through the castle, wondering what it could possibly be. We reached the Slytherin common room and Sev told me to wait outside, so with a sigh of annoyance I slumped against the wall opposite and played with my bracelet, spinning it around my wrist and watching the candlelight dance on the stones.

"Mrow?"

My head snapped up. "You've got to be kidding me," I laughed, clapping my hands over my mouth and beaming, because a tiny black kitten had just stumbled out of the common room before Sev.

"No, the little bugger got hair all over my robes," he grumbled, dusting himself off. I rocked forwards onto my knees and scooped it up in my arms. It was pitch black everywhere except for a little spot under its chin, which was pure white. Its eyes were the same green as mine, and they stared curiously up at me.

"Mrrrrp." It stretched in my arms and began purring, and I laughed quietly.

"I can't believe it you got me a kitten!" I cried, setting it down and giving Sev a bone-crushing hug. "I've always wanted one, when did you possibly buy it?"

"Her, it's a her," Sev said, hugging me back, "and I owl-ordered it - not far, just from a little shop in Hogsmeade; four great big owls came flying up yesterday carrying her crate between them, you were getting ready for the Ball, I suppose."

"What's her name?" I asked, kneeling down and scratching her behind the ears. She flopped onto the floor and blinked at me, still purring loudly.

"You can pick, she doesn't have one," Sev explained, crouching next to me and smiling fondly at the cat.

I studied her for a moment. "Toby."

Sev looked over at me, puzzled. "Toby?"

"Yeah, Toby. Like Tobias, but shorter."

"She's a girl..."

I rolled my eyes impatiently. "Doesn't matter, now it's stuck. Do you like your name, Toby? You're named after the best boyfriend in the world, you know," I crooned, scratching her chin. Toby meowed happily and kneaded her paws in mid-air. I looked up at Sev, my face shining. "I mean it, too. And this has been the best Christmas yet, thank-you."

I stood up and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him softly. "And it's not over yet," he announced, and only then did I notice he was holding one hand behind his back. He held out a book - not a book, a journal, a dark brown leather diary with a buckle to hold it closed and the Gryffindor emblem embossed onto the front. I took it and flipped through the thick, cream-coloured pages, grinning from ear to ear. "I have one too," he explained, "well, mine's black and it's got the Slytherin crest, obviously - but the thing is, I've charmed it so if you write in it and use a certain spell, I'll get the same message in mine and I can reply to it. Not every message, obviously, you choose what you want me to see and what you don't, but... it's like owl mail, only faster."

I pulled him into another hug. "Merlin, Sev, the only way you can top this next year is if you proposed," I joked.

Sev chuckled. "We'll see."

* * *

><p>I lay awake in bed that night. Toby was curled up at my feet; the other girls had coddled her and fussed over her until she was utterly worn out. I, on the other hand, was wide awake, thinking.<p>

_We'll see,_ he said. And then, for the first time, I could see it - just like the dream I had, both of us wearing wedding rings, in a flat somewhere outside a city. Children, little girls with my hair or little boys with Sev's nose, running around the lawn, flying about on toy broomsticks. Tuney and I would have made up by then, I know we would, and I would babysit her children when she was out with a rich ponce of a husband - because if I knew my sister, she would be all for fancy parties and money. He'd be a Professor and I - well, I'd do _something_ with my life, that's for sure - and we'd be far away from House rivalry and Death Eaters, and everything would be perfect.

I rolled over and reached under my pillow, where I had stashed the diary. I opened to the first page and grabbed my wand and a quill. Holding my wand in my teeth, aiming the light towards the paper, I scribbled, "Sev?" and tapped the message with my wand. It glowed gold for a moment before the ink went back to black.

After a long minute, like an invisible hand was penning them in Sev's favourite green ink, the word, "Lily?" appeared. I beamed at the sight of it.

"You're a genius, you know." Again, the words glowed gold before returning to normal, and Sev's response came faster this time.

"I know. Go to sleep, it's past midnight."

"I only wanted to say, I love you."

"I love you too. Happy Christmas."

"Toby says meow," I scribbled with a grin.

"Well, meow to her too. Goodnight."

I laughed quietly to myself. "Goodnight." I closed the diary and stuffed it back under my pillow, lying so I could feel one hand touching the spine of it under my head. It wasn't long before I drifted off to sleep, dreams of a future with Severus Snape dancing in my head, Toby's purrs filling the room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Voila! See, originally TobyTobias was going to be an owl but I decided that getting an adorable fluffy kitten rather than an owl with razor-sharp talons, you know, the former would be nicer. And the idea of the diaries were partly drawn from Tom Riddle's diary (but a lot less, um, evil) and partly from my idiot friend. She's not really an idiot, I just like calling her that.**_

**_HOORAY FOR POORLY-DISGUISED FORESHADOWING _**

_**Anywho. **_


	18. Chapter 18

**_A/N: HAPPY CHRISTMAS! Or if you don't celebrate Christmas, happy holidays! "Halfway out of the dark", as Kazran would say... yeah, I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who. Only a few more hours until the Christmas special... _**

**_Right. Harry Potter. Snily. Get your fandoms straight, Brodi. Read on!_**

* * *

><p>I perched on the armrest of Sev's chair, resting my chin on the top of his head and watching him study. He was sitting in our usual spot in the library; one of the warmest places in the castle, the roaring fire easily chased away the January chill seeping through the rest of the school.<p>

"I've had an idea," I said thoughtfully.

Sev put down his book and sighed. I lifted my head so he could look up at me. "Another one?"

I laughed. "Shut up, you had fun at that fair."

"I did, until the Dementors tried to suck our souls out our noses."

"Exactly." I leaned closer, my eyes bright. "We couldn't defend ourselves - but what if we learned how?"

I saw something click behind his widening eyes. "Are you suggesting...?"

"I am." I reached into my bag and pulled out a Defence textbook, flipping through the yellowed pages until I reached the one I had bookmarked. "The theory is simple enough, just think of a happy memory and say the charm, see?"

"It has to be a _really_ happy memory though, incredibly powerful," Sev pointed out, tapping a line of text. I shrugged.

"I could manage that, I've been with you over a year now, haven't I?" I said sweetly, batting my eyelashes.

Sev scoffed. "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun, and useful, and I'm positive that if we let it slip that we can do a Patronus charm on our Defense NEWT we're bound to get an extra mark or two." I knew that would win him over, and sure enough I saw a spark of interest in his eyes.

"Fine," he said, rolling his eyes and sighing dramatically. "When do you want to start then?"

I beamed. "Tonight."

Sev gave me a withering look. "In case you've forgotten, Slughorn wants a essay on his desk tomorrow morning."

"I haven't forgotten, I've finished." I gave him a smug little smile.

"Shut up." Sev reached up, pulled me close and gave me a quick kiss. "Now, are you going to help me with this or are you going to run off and chatter with your friends?"

"You don't need my help, you're brilliant." Sev pulled a face but said nothing. I smiled and shook my head. "See you later?" I asked, giving him a significant look that suggested Patronuses and Dementors would be the last things on our minds.

He grinned. "I should hope so."

I gave him a coy smile and hurried away, eventually finding Mary and James wandering through the corridor hand-in-hand. Mary's face lit up as soon as she saw me. "Did you hear?" she demanded eagerly, "Marlene and Sirius are a couple now, they actually made it official at breakfast."

My eyebrows shot up. "Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon? Our Sirius and our Marlene, actually going steady... together?"

James laughed. "Apparently. And Wormtail has Dorcas, he was babbling about her all day yesterday, poor thing. Completely love struck if you ask me. We should find Moony a girl, yeah? Or a bloke, or a Grindylow or _something_..."

"Grindylow, definitely," Remus said sarcastically, falling into step beside me. He was smiling though, and I couldn't help a surge of pride towards him at the fact that he could joke about such things.

"So what d'you say we get something to eat?" James suggested.

"You know where the kitchens are, don't you?" I guessed; I wouldn't be surprised if the Marauders had discovered every secret this school held. James only tapped his nose and grinned, and the four of us set off.

* * *

><p>I squeezed my eyes shut tight. I was seven, and I was sitting cross-legged in the grass on my grandparents' front lawn in Surrey. Petunia was sprawled next to me, watching my grandmother with the same rapt expression as I was. "And you two know what these flowers are, don't you?" Gran said with a warm chuckle, gesturing to a clump of flowers in her garden. She plucked one of each. "A petunia for my Petunia, and a lily for my Lily!" she said brightly, handing us each the flower that matched our names. I beamed. It was so peaceful here, spending time with my Gran and my sister... so peaceful, and so happy...<p>

"Lily?" Sev asked, snapping me back to reality. His face bobbed in front of mine, looking concerned. "Lily, you're crying."

I brought a hand to my face, and sure enough my cheeks were damp. "I'm sorry." We were standing in the Potions room, and it wouldn't be long before curfew. "I just got lost in the memory, is all."

"It couldn't have been very happy, if it made you cry," Sev grumbled, wiping a tear away with his thumb.

I shook my head. "Oh, no, it was one of the happiest ones I've got." I told him about my Gran's garden, the way we'd sit out there for hours in the sun learning about all kinds of plants and flowers and bugs. And we'd go back inside, where my grandfather would be waiting with a book, and Gran would make snacks and sit and listen to her husband read us stories in his rich voice, tales of pirates and magic and far-off places. "He died before we met, before he ever got a chance to find out that the fairy tales he loved so much were real," I sniffed bitterly. "Both of them did, though it was grandpa who went first, of a heart attack. Gran died exactly a week later. Mum figures it was out of heartbreak, the two of them were so close. They had known each other since they were seven, did you know? Sort of like us, they'd always been best friends, and it turned into something more when they were still in school."

Sev smiled faintly. For a moment I wondered what he would look like when he was as old as my grandfather, if we would still be together then, if I'd be showing my grandchildren magical plants and he'd be reading them stories from Beetle the Bard or telling them about our time at Hogwarts. The idea thrilled me. "Anyway, let's give it a go one last time, yeah?" he asked, his words dissolving into a yawn. I couldn't blame him, we'd been practicing for almost three hours, having run down here straight after dinner.

I nodded and stepped away a little, letting my mind drift back to Gran's garden. I couldn't stop the memory of the funeral butting in, of all the tears and black clothing. Gritting my teeth determinedly, I focused hard on the happiness before, and just before I could cast the charm a completely new memory took over, one of a little girl tearing down the street, her red hair flying out behind her, clutching a few sheaves of parchment in one hand. Her freckled face was cracked into a broad grin. She turned a corner and practically collided with a boy, one with long black hair, mismatched clothes and a hooked nose. "It came, Sev, look!" I squealed, thrusting the letter into his face.

He laughed. "I told you it would, didn't I?"

"We're going to Hogwarts!" I exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of my feet, and I kissed him on the cheek before pulling him into a tight hug again.

_"Expecto Patronum!"_ I said, sounding far more confident than I had in previous attempts. Sev's voice echoed me beside me, and suddenly two bright shapes erupted from the end of our wands, chasing each other through the air around the dungeon classroom for a fleeting second before fading away. I stared at the spot where they had disappeared, the shapes still burned into the inside of my eyelids. "What were they?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"I'm not positive," he replied shakily, "but they looked like birds. If I had to guess I'd say yours was a dove, and mine was a raven or a crow or something."

I turned to him, and as soon as our eyes met smiles broke across our faces and I jumped into his arms. "We did it!" I cried, giving him a bone-crushing hug. He laughed triumphantly, his face buried in my shoulder.

We stayed like that for a few minutes. "What were you thinking of?" he asked curiously.

I smiled shyly. "When we got our Hogwarts letters, remember? We practically attacked each other in a hug in the middle of the road."

"And you kissed me for the first time," he pointed out smugly.

"On the cheek," I retorted, smirking. "What were you thinking of then?"

"Our first real kiss," he admitted, "that day in your room. Though I figure the day I stumbled across a red-haired witch - and her stuck-up sister - in the park was a very close second."

"Shut up," I laughed, hitting his arm so he dropped me onto my feet. "Let's give it another go," I encouraged, eager to see my Patronus again.

Sev chuckled. "You look exhausted, and we've got ten minutes until curfew, anyway." I pretended to pout. "Tomorrow, I promise. Can I walk you up?"

I shook my head. "You'll get detention, I think I can find my own way." I rose up on my toes to kiss him and gave him another hug before hurrying up to Gryffindor tower, promising to meet him at breakfast.

Alice raised her eyebrow as soon as I fell onto the couch next to her. "What happened to _you?_" she demanded, her eyes shining knowingly.

"Shut up, that's not what happened," I said quickly; I knew exactly what she was thinking.

Alice frowned. "Well you two went running off together, and you show up at this hour looking beyond tired, what am I supposed to think?"

"You have a dirty mind, Alice."

"Don't pretend you don't wish that's what you were doing."

"_Anyway,_ for your information, we've been practicing the Patronus charm," I said loudly, ignoring her.

James gave a low whistle. "Fancy. Any luck?"

I nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "We both managed it in the end - they weren't very defined, but Sev figures they were both some kind of bird. A dove and a raven, he said."

"Wicked. See, I wish I could make a Patronus, Merlin knows it would improve my chances of becoming an Auror," Frank said woefully.

"An Auror?" I asked interestedly. Frank grinned.

"Oh, yeah. There's nothing else for me, I'm dying to be one. I thought you wanted to be an Auror, too?"

I frowned. I _had_ wanted to be an Auror, back in fifth year, but since then I'd changed my mind so many times I didn't have the slightest idea what I wanted to do once I left Hogwarts. Frank's comment had sparked a whole new conversation, and it seemed like everyone had their lives planned out already - Frank, Peter and James wanted to be Aurors, Mary wanted to work for St. Mungo's, Alice, Dorcas and Marlene all dreamed of being Unspeakables at the Ministry, Remus thought he might like to teach as long as Dumbledore didn't mind hiring someone with his 'furry little problem', and Sirius insisted that between living with the Potters and the money he already had, he wouldn't have to work a day in his life. I could see Sev being a Potions professor, no matter how much he protested - maybe Defence Against the Dark Arts - but somehow I couldn't see myself doing anything.

"You could work for the Prophet, Lily," Dorcas suggested, bringing me back to the present. "I can see it, you know, great big headline, your face beaming up from the page, the words _'Daily Prophet reporter Lily Snape interviewed So-and-so McSomething...'"_

I couldn't help but beam at _'Lily Snape'. _"You really do look tired," Remus fretted, his brows knitted together, and he pulled a piece of chocolate from his robes. "Here, it'll help."

I laughed. "You carry chocolate around in your robes?"

Remus pretended to look confused, though a smile shone through his eyes. "Of course I do, doesn't everybody?"

* * *

><p>Sev was standing by the doors like he promised, his back to me. I could see him twirling a flower in his fingers, one he obviously meant to keep hidden from me. I shook my head and smirked, and then tore towards him as fast as I could, leaping up and clinging to his back. He cried out, but as soon as he realized it was me he relaxed.<p>

"Happy birthday!" I chirped happily.

"You don't have to do this, you know," he reminded me. I stood in front of him, rolling my eyes and giving him a quick kiss.

"I know I don't _have_ to, I _want_ to," I insisted. "Besides, it's your eighteenth, now we're of age in the Muggle world too."

"Thank Merlin," Sev agreed. "This is for you, by the way." He presented me with the flower, a single white rose with its thorns stripped off. I beamed.

"Come on then, I don't want to waste a single second of today," I said enthusiastically, taking his hand and pulling him down the path to Hogsmeade. It was our second 'official' date - none of our friends would be tagging along, it was just the two of us, and I sincerely hoped it wouldn't end the way the last one did.

We wandered around the village for a while, lingering in the shops to avoid the January cold. At Honeydukes I convinced Sev to eat a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean - he got earwax, and I got burned toast - and we shared a Butterbeer and a snog at the Three Broomsticks.

"How does she survive when she's not with him?" Sev asked, nodding towards a booth on our way out. Alice and Frank were sitting very close together, speaking in low voices with tiny, love-filled smiles on their faces.

I smirked and rolled my eyes. "She says his name in her sleep sometimes, we've heard her. Poor thing. D'you remember a few weeks ago, when Frank was sick? Alice moped all day."

"Don't take offence when I say I'm glad we aren't that... _mushy_." Sev elbowed the door open and we stepped out into the snowy street, hunching against the bitter wind.

I laughed. "No, I like this much better."

"What is this, exactly?"

"Being best friends first. So that I'm allowed to do this -" I knelt down and scooped up a handful of snow, flicking it into his face "- and not have to worry about you dumping me on my arse."

"Who says I won't?" Sev growled, and for a moment I thought he was serious, my heart plummeting. Suddenly he had me in his arms, running down the street with me to a nearby snow bank.

"Severus Snape, put me _down_!" I shrieked.

"Whatever you say, love," Sev said cheekily, and dropped me into the waist-deep snow.

"I hate you," I bit out, struggling to get up. Sev was roaring with laughter, but it was cut short when I reached up and pulled him down by his emerald-and-silver scarf so he fell face-first beside me.

"This is no way to treat the birthday boy," he mumbled into the powder, and I giggled.

"When is the wedding, anyway?" he asked, once we were on our feet again.

"Alice wants it right after Hogwarts, sometime early in the summer." We had spent many nights staying up, making plans that ranged from ones that made some kind of sense to completely outrageous ceremonies. "Well, if she had it her way it'd be in the spring, but she can't because of school." I hesitated before adding, "I've always dreamed of my wedding late in the summer, sometime in August."

"Hm," Sev said, in a voice that I knew meant he was thinking. I didn't try to keep up the conversation, finding it was just as nice to wander around in silence, wondering if he was thinking the same thing I was - him in a suit and I in a dress, exchanging rings and vows at long last.

* * *

><p>"Go on, just this once!"<p>

"Please, we haven't seen it yet!"

"Fine, but only so you won't bother me any longer. _Expecto Patronum."_ The dove flew lazily around the room, and my dorm-mates watched her go with wide eyes. I had been practicing, and it wasn't so difficult anymore. After a moment she faded away, and Mary made a noise of awe.

"You've got to teach me how to do that," she insisted.

"Not now, I'm exhausted and I've got a Potions test in the morning, in case you've forgotten." I slunk down in bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. "You just need a happy memory - a really happy memory."

"And what was yours?"

I sighed, eager to go to sleep. "Getting my Hogwarts letter," I lied, and it seemed to satisfy the other girls enough so they drifted off to sleep. The memory I used had changed and I hadn't told anyone, not even Sev. After all, how was I supposed to tell him that my happiest memory was one of a dream where we were married with children? _That wouldn't be awkward at all, Lily,_ I thought sarcastically, but there was no doubt that the idea of spending the rest of my life with him was more thrilling than anything I could think up - I could only hope he felt the same way.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Rubbish ending, as per usual. You might have to get used to those. I don't know how many of you follow me but on Tumblr I asked what their Patronuses should be - a fox and a wolf, a dove and a raven, or does. The general response was somewhere between the does and the birds, and because it's an AU I went with the birds. My logic is that James's Patronus matched his Animagus - a stag - and Lily's was a doe to match James and Sev's was a doe to match Lily's. But in Magic-AU-Land, where Lily never fell in love with James, I feel like her Patronus would be like Sev's. Make sense? Not really? Okay.<em>**

**_Can you tell Lily's been thinking about her future with Sev a lot lately? Somehow I don't think I've made that clear enough... sorry about that. _**


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